CancerQuest >> Diagnosis & Detection >> General Techniques

Ultrasound: Results

Besides allowing visualization of a lesion, an ultrasound is also the only non-invasive way to determine if a suspicious lump is a benign, fluid-filled cyst, or whether it is a solid cancerous mass. A cyst cannot be correctly diagnosed with only a physical exam or mammography. Ultrasounds are also helpful because they can be used to help guide a needle during a biopsy. Research with women who have either breasts that are too dense for mammograms, or are at an increased risk for breast cancer, has shown that ultrasounds can also distinguish between benign and malignant masses.

Ultrasounds are good exams to gain important information about a suspicious mass. However, they are not used for primary screening because of several factors. Because a well trained professional must administer the exam and interpret the results, they are expensive and the interpretation can vary on the evaluator. There is also a higher incidence of incorrectly identifying a mass as cancerous, a false positive, than with mammography. Additionally, ultrasounds are unable to detect microcalcifications (small mineral deposits in the breast that indicate the possibility of malignancy). All cancers do not show up on ultrasounds, and in some cases, an ultrasound will not provide enough information for a physician to decide whether or not a mass is malignant, and a biopsy will be recommended.

The images below show examples of ultrasound results.
Left- liver containing metastatic cancer growths; Right- an ovary containing a large irregularly shaped mass.

  

In the detection of breast cancer, ultrasound imaging is an extremely useful tool, but is not a substitute for mammography. Learn more about breast ultrasound.