Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 6, 2022; 10(28): 10042-10052
Published online Oct 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i28.10042
Efficacy of digital breast tomosynthesis combined with magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of early breast cancer
Yun Ren, Jiao Zhang, Jin-Dan Zhang, Jian-Zhong Xu
Yun Ren, Jin-Dan Zhang, Jian-Zhong Xu, Department of Breast Surgery, Changzhi People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University, Changzhi 046000, Shanxi Province, China
Jiao Zhang, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Changzhi People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University, Changzhi 046000, Shanxi Province, China
Author contributions: Ren Y and Zhang J contributed equally to this study, and should be regarded as co-first authors; Ren Y, Zhang J and Xu JZ design the experiment; Ren Y and Zhang J drafted the work; all authors collected the data; Zhang JD and Xu JZ analysed and interpreted data; Ren Y and Zhang J wrote the article.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Changzhi People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University Medical Ethics Committee.
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors have nothing to disclose.
Data sharing statement: Not available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jian-Zhong Xu, Doctor, Chief Physician, Department of Breast Surgery, Changzhi People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanxi Medical University, No. 502 Changxing Zhong Road, Changzhi 046000, Shanxi Province, China. xjzzhuren@163.com
Received: May 26, 2022
Peer-review started: May 26, 2022
First decision: June 15, 2022
Revised: June 28, 2022
Accepted: August 22, 2022
Article in press: August 22, 2022
Published online: October 6, 2022
Processing time: 124 Days and 3.3 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The incidence of breast cancer has increased annually in recent years. Presently, there are 1.67 million newly diagnosed breast cancer patients worldwide yearly. Although breast cancer treatment tends to be comprehensive, including surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeting, and endocrine therapy, surgical treatment is still the most important treatment method.

Research motivation

In recent years, studies have found that the clinical symptoms of breast cancer are not obvious, and many cancers are highly concealed, and are prone to spreading and metastasis. Therefore, early detection and diagnosis of lesions through imaging examination technology are key to reducing mortality and improving prognosis and recovery.

Research objectives

The purpose was to select the best diagnostic method and surgical plan for breast cancer to improve the diagnostic accuracy and patients’ quality of life.

Research methods

We analyzed the value of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tumors, and compared the blood loss, operation time, hospitalization time, breast cosmetic effect, and quality of life between small incision breast-conserving surgery and modified radical mastectomy.

Research results

The combined use of the two diagnostic methods has advantages of reducing clinical missed diagnosis and misdiagnosis, and have more clinical value and greater development potential. By this study, we have confirmed the advantages of breast-conserving surgery, which had lower blood loss, lower operation time, lower hospital stay time, higher quality of life scores and better breast cosmetic effects.

Research conclusions

In early breast cancer, MRI combined with DBT can significantly improve the diagnostic performance compared with the two alone. Compared with modified radical surgery, breast-conserving surgery in patients with early breast cancer can achieve better breast cosmetic effect and postoperative quality of life.

Research perspectives

We believe that the clinical value of early breast cancer using MRI combined with DBT is higher, and breast-conserving surgery with small incision is more effective.