Breast Cancer: Sensitivity and Specificity

Introduction: None written.

[Edit Diagnosis] [Merge dx] [Add prevalence]

Prevalence

Population / Calculator	Prevalence	Comments / Study / Link
Nipple discharge	6%	6-12% of patients with unilateral nipple discharge have breast carcinoma
Screening Population	0.5%	J Natl Cancer Inst 2000 Jun 21;92(12):971-6. PMID 10861308
More, Edit...

The sensitivity and specificity of findings for Breast Cancer are listed below. See the left navigation bar to change the display.

Imaging

Finding	Sensitivity	Specificity	Comments, Study
Mammography, Screening	86%	96%	Sensitivity and specificity of mammography vary widely from study to study Study: Influence of personal characteristics of individual women on sensitivity and specificity of mammography in the Million Women Study: cohort study. Banks E; Reeves G; Beral V; Bull D; Crossley B; Simmonds M; Hilton E; Bailey S; Barrett N; Briers P; English R; Jackson A; Kutt E; Lavelle J; Rockall L; Wallis MG; Wilson M; Patnick J BMJ 2004 Aug 28;329(7464):477. PMID 15331472 Diagnostic performance of digital versus film mammography for breast-cancer screening. Pisano ED; Gatsonis C; Hendrick E; Yaffe M; Baum JK; Acharyya S; Conant EF; Fajardo LL; Bassett L; D'Orsi C; Jong R; Rebner M N Engl J Med 2005 Oct 27;353(17):1773-83. Epub 2005 Sep 16. PMID 16169887
MRI	79%	89%	Most studies have evaluated MRI in high risk populations. Study: Table 1 of this paper has a summary of results from multiple studies comparing mammography to MRI for breast cancer detection in high risk patients Breast MRI for cancer detection and characterization: a review of evidence-based clinical applications. DeMartini W, Lehman C, Partridge S. Acad Radiol. 2008 Apr;15(4):408-16. PMID 18342764 Efficacy of MRI and mammography for breast-cancer screening in women with a familial or genetic predisposition. Kriege et al N Engl J Med. 2004 Jul 29;351(5):427-37. PMID: 15282350 http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/351/5/427
Ultrasound	No accuracy specified.		Study: no study specified.

Tumor Marker

CA 15-3

No accuracy specified.

Study: no study specified.

Untagged

Clinical Breast Exam

58.8%

93.4%

in screening population by community practitioners

another similar study found spec = 99.4%

In the latter study, for diagnostic breast exams (i.e. for a complaint) specificity was only 68.7%.

Study: J Natl Cancer Inst 2000 Jun 21;92(12):971-6. PMID 10861308

J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Mar;22(3):332-7. PMID 17356964

Core Needle Biopsy

Sensitivity = 98%

versus open surgical biopsy

sensitivities were quite similar between ultrasound-guided and stereotactic biopsy

Study: Bruening W, et al. "Systematic Review: Comparative Effectiveness of Core-Needle and Open Surgical Biopsy to Diagnose Breast Lesions". Ann Int Med.

http://www.annals.org/content/early/2009/12/08/0003-4819-152-1-201001050-00190.abstract