Diagnostic Reliability of Combined Approach of Physical Examination, Mammography and Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy in Patients with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is a common malignancy in females. For that reason the disease has to be suspected when one encounters a solid mass in the breast. Until recently in order to find out the actual nature of the lump both excisional biopsy and histopathologic examination were thought to be essential. Nowadays fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is performed to evaluate the solid mass in the breast and by using this technique individual characteristics of each cell can lead to diagnosis. But it is reported that erroneous diagnosis is more common with FNAB than with excisional biopsy and histopathologic examination. Despite the recent advances in diagnostic techniques physical examination is still the first step in breast cancer diagnosis and it is the most widely used method. Mammography and FNAB should follow. However the accuracy rate of mammography alone is especially low for the evaluation of small masses. Therefore FNAB has become of use as an important adjunctive diagnostic procedure and it is used along with physical and mammographic examinations. Some authors report that the rate of correct diagnosis rises sometimes up to 100% when these three methods are applied together. The aim of the present study is to detect the diagnostic reliability of a combined approach with physical examination mammography and FNAB in patients with breast cancer. (excerpt)