Monday, November 30 | 11:10 a.m.-11:20 a.m. | SSC09-05 | Room N229
Screening ultrasound is an effective tool for finding early-stage thyroid cancer in asymptomatic populations, according to research to be presented on Monday morning.A team led by Dr. Jeongin Yoo of Chonbuk National University in Jeonju, South Korea, analyzed ultrasound features of screening-detected thyroid cancer. They found that the majority of these cancers were smaller than 1 cm and showed solid and hypoechoic nodules on ultrasound.
Yoo's group included 1,845 patients who underwent screening ultrasound between March and August 2012. Among these patients, 973 had benign disease, 29 had thyroid cancer (27 confirmed by fine-needle aspiration and two by surgery), 28 had papillary carcinoma, and one had follicular carcinoma.
The cancer cases demonstrated the following features on ultrasound: solid composition (100%), hypoechogenicity (100%), axes longer than they were wide (82.8%), and indistinct margins (86.2%).
The fact that malignant thyroid lesions have particular features on screening ultrasound makes the modality an effective tool for early detection of the disease, the researchers concluded.
![Examples of ultrasound findings and techniques. (A) Images in a 39-year-old male patient with a mass in the left thigh. The mass is heterogeneous on the B-mode US image (compared with the patient in D) and showed increased microvascularity (superb microvascular imaging [SMI]) and shear-wave elastography (SWE) values. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy (with pleomorphic rhabdomyosarcoma in surgical specimen). (B) Images in an 18-year-old male patient with a mass in the left leg. The mass is hypoechoic on the B-mode image, with no other findings suggestive of malignancy. The lesion is in contact with the cortex of the tibia, which is slightly irregular. CT revealed a doubtful anteromedial tibial erosion. The microvascular study demonstrated high vascularization, suggestive of malignancy. Periosteal Ewing sarcoma was diagnosed with both histologic and immunohistochemical confirmation. (C) Images in a 69-year-old female patient with a lump growing on the outside of the left leg. Multiple SWE examinations were performed (please note the high values obtained in the measurements, whereas the color map highlights the stiffness relative to adjacent tissues). SMI showed areas of increased vascularization to target for sampling. Undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with residual leiomyosarcoma in the surgical specimen after neoadjuvant therapy. (D) Images in a 56-year-old female patient with a mass in the right thigh. The mass is heterogeneous at both B-mode ultrasound (similar to patient A) and MRI (coronal T2-weighted spectral attenuated inversion recovery [SPAIR]; T1-weighted pre-contrast and postcontrast imaging), which even shows uptake after the administration of paramagnetic contrast material, which is traditionally suggestive of malignancy. Low values at SMI and elastography are suggestive of benignity. Spindle cell lipoma was diagnosed at biopsy, with atypical spindle cell lipomatous tumor in the surgical specimen.](https://img.auntminnie.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/08/images-radiol250278fig2.APCFLSvX6p.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)