Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42667505›Full record

ArticleJournal of medical ultrasonics (2001)2026

Does the addition of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography to B-mode ultrasonography improve diagnostic accuracy for breast cancer? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Shotaro Inoue, Kazuaki Nakashima, Kazutaka Nakashima, Tomonari Kunihisa, Koichi Hirokaga, Kaori Tane, Yoshihito Goto, Takeo Nakayama

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Article in Journal of medical ultrasonics (2001), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Shotaro InoueDivision of Breast Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
Kazuaki NakashimaDepartment of Breast Imaging and Breast Interventional Radiology, Shizuoka Cancer Center Hospital, Nagaizumi, Shizuoka, Japan.
Kazutaka NakashimaDepartment of Surgery, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan.
Tomonari KunihisaDivision of Breast Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-2 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan. kunihisa@med.kobe-u.ac.jp.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2805-6746
Koichi HirokagaDivision of Breast Surgery, Hyogo Cancer Center, Akashi, Hyogo, Japan.
Kaori TaneDivision of Breast Surgery, Hyogo Cancer Center, Akashi, Hyogo, Japan.
Yoshihito GotoClinical Research Center, National Hospital Organization Kyoto Medical Center, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan.
Takeo NakayamaDepartment of Health Informatics, School of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis study aimed to determine whether the addition of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) to B-mode ultrasonography improves diagnostic accuracy in differentiating benign from malignant breast lesions.

methodsA comprehensive literature search was performed using PubMed (MEDLINE), Ichushi, and the Cochrane Library up to July 2025. Eligible studies assessed the diagnostic performance of CEUS for suspected breast cancer, with histopathology as the reference standard. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratio (DOR), and positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated.

resultsEleven studies comprising 1987 patients with 2051 lesions were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of B-mode ultrasonography alone were 86.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 81.5-89.7) and 70.8% (95%CI 60.7-79.2), respectively. For B-mode alone, the pooled DOR was 15.0 (95%CI 9.7-23.3), with an LR + of 2.95 (95% CI 2.18-3.99) and an LR - of 0.20 (95% CI 0.15-0.26). In contrast, CEUS was associated with improved pooled estimates of diagnostic performance, yielding a pooled sensitivity of 93.4% (95%CI 89.0-96.2) and a specificity of 85.8% (95%CI 80.9-89.6). The pooled DOR for CEUS was 86.3 (95%CI 48.0-155.4), with an LR + of 6.59 (95%CI 4.89-8.87) and an LR - of 0.08 (95%CI 0.05-0.13).

conclusionsPooled diagnostic estimates were higher in studies evaluating CEUS combined with B-mode ultrasonography than in studies evaluating B-mode ultrasonography alone, particularly by increasing specificity in differentiating benign from malignant breast lesions. However, these findings are based on indirect comparisons and should be interpreted with caution.

Indexed as

B-mode ultrasonographyBreast cancerBreast lesionsContrast-enhanced ultrasonographyDiagnostic accuracy

Identifiers

PMID42667505

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.