Doppler ultrasound color flow imaging in the study of breast cancer: preliminary findings.

A prospective study of the Doppler color flow features of 55 proved breast cancers was performed. On a three-level scale of low to marked vascularity, visual assessment of the color flow images classified 82% of the cancers as moderately or markedly vascular (minimal: 14%, moderate: 29%, marked: 53%). Four percent of the cancers had no detectable flow. In 29 women, a volume of tissue comparable to the cancer was scanned in the contralateral normal breast. Sixty-nine percent of the normal breasts had moderate or marked vascularity (minimal: 28%, moderate: 41%, marked: 28%), and 3% were avascular. There was poor distinction between normal tissues and cancer which suggests that more sensitive Doppler methods than were employed in this study may be needed in order to detect the small vessel flow reported to be rather specific for malignancy. The high, 82%, detection rate of tumor vessels in this study suggests the potential use of color flow Doppler for directing more specific but lengthy Doppler procedures.