For Philadelphia area women to best way to diagnosis an abnormal mammography is a needle biopsy but patients and physicians now have a new technique to aid in distinguishing between cancer and benign breast lesions.
The new technique, elastography, is added to a breast ultrasound study and measures the elasticity of the lesion. Malignant breast masses tend to be stiffer than cancerous masses. While ultrasound studies have been used for years to determine if the abnormalities on the mammogram were solid masses, it fails to distinguish if solid masses are cancerous.
A seven year study at a hospital in London compared elastography with needle biopsies and found that the elastography procedure correctly identified 98 percent of cancerous lesions. The study also discovered that elastography is more accurate in gauging the size of the lesions than a traditional ultrasound.
The new technique will not eliminate breast biopsies but an ultrasound performed with elastography will help patients and physicians make more informed decisions.
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