Chapters Index (French) French Version Welcome page Contact

Ultrasound is an easy method for differentiating full lesions from cysts and other hollow liquid lesions.

Its major interest is its quickness and the non-invasive nature of the examination for the patient. However, it requires a very well trained radiologist, since image production is obtained by the radiologist's hand and paper reproductions rarely offer the oncologist sufficient and/or tangible clinical information.

Its major indications are for the detection of liver metastases, pancreatic lesions, pelvic tumours (ovary) or superficial tumours (thyroid, testis).

Intracavitary probes are very useful for certain pathologies:

• endorectal probe for prostate cancer,
• endovaginal probe for gynaecological cancer,
• ultrasound probe within an endoscope for digestive tumours to specify wall invasion: oesophagus, rectum.

Ultrasonography is also most useful in perfoming biopsies or percutaneous needle punctures in order to obtain histological or cytological proof of malignancy.

The quality of the ultrasonography examinations is highly operator-dependent and paper reproductions are but a far cry from the actual examination; for this reason, ultrasonography is rarely used to monitor therapeutic trials which impose precise tumour measurements requiring to be verified by independent observers.

Recent progress in this technique has provided knowledge on tumour vascularisation and offers 3D images.