BI-RADS 3 lesions common on screening US

BI-RADS 3 lesions are seen in nearly 20% of participants after three rounds of screening ultrasound, but they are rarely malignant, according to researchers from Southwoods Imaging Center in Youngstown, OH.

In this Sunday morning session, Dr. Richard Barr, PhD, and colleagues will present results from a study they conducted using data from the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) 6666 trial to ascertain the frequency and malignancy rate of BI-RADS 3 ultrasound lesions.

Out of 2,662 trial participants, 519 (19.5%) had 745 BI-RADS 3 lesions, the team found. Of these lesions, 124 (16.6%) were biopsied; six of these biopsied lesions were malignant (representing 4.8% of biopsies and 0.8% of BI-RADS 3 lesions). The six malignant lesions occurred in five (1%) of the 519 participants, and five of the six malignancies were invasive.

What's the bottom line? BI-RADS 3 lesions are common on screening ultrasound, but fewer than 2% are malignant, according to Barr's group.