ROLE OF MAMMOGRAPHY IN RESPONSE ASSESSMENT FOLLOWING NEOADJUVANT CHEMOTHERAPY IN LOCALLY ADVANCED BREAST CARCINOMA: EXPERIENCE FROM A TERTIARY CARE CENTRE

Abstract

Objective:

 Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) has an important role in treatment of locally advanced breast carcinoma (LABC). In this study we analyzed the efficacy of mammography in response assessment of NACT in patients with LABC and its correlation with histopathological report.

Methods:

 80 patients with LABC underwent clinical examination and mammography at first. Then, after receiving three cycles of NACT, mammography and Clinical examination was done again to evaluate the response to NACT. Patients with at least a partial response underwent radical surgery. Then we correlate the findings of histopathological report with that of post-NACT mammography findings.

Results:

After three cycles of NACT , mammography  detected Complete response(CR) in 20%(n=28) patients and Partial response (PR) in 70%(n=48) patients. clinical examination over-estimated the CR to be 45% and under-estimated PR to be 50% .HPE showed complete pathological response in 25 specimens and in rest 51 cases HPE revealed residual tumour. Mammography over-estimated the pCR by 4% (3 patients).

Conclusion:

To conclude it can be said that mammography can be used as an effective imaging tool for response assessment after NACT, especially in resource limited set ups.

 Keywords: Locally advanced breast cancer, Mammography, Neo-adjuvant chemotherapy, Response Assessment.