Breast cancer mammographic diagnosis performance in a public health institution: a retrospective cohort study

Diagnostic performance of mammography and ultrasound in breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of mammography (MMG) and ultrasound (US) imaging for detecting breast cancer.

METHODS

Comprehensive searches of PubMed, Scopus and EMBASE from 2008 to 2021 were performed. A summary receiver operating characteristic curve (SROC) was constructed to summarize the overall test performance of MMG and US. Histopathologic analysis and/or close clinical and imaging follow-up for at least 6 months were used as golden reference.

RESULTS

Analysis of the studies revealed that the overall validity estimates of MMG and US in detecting breast cancer were as follows: pooled sensitivity per-patient were 0.82 (95% CI 0.76-0.87) and 0.83 (95% CI 0.71-0.91) respectively, The pooled specificities for detection of breast cancer using MMG, and US were 0.84 (95% CI 0.73-0.92) and 0.84 (95% CI 0.74-0.91) respectively. AUC of MMG, and US were 0.8933 and 0.8310 respectively. Pooled sensitivity and specificity per-lesion was 76% (95% CI 0.62-0.86) and 82% (95% CI 0.66-0.91) for MMG and 94% (95% CI 0.87-0.97) and 84% (95% CI 0.74-0.91) for US.

CONCLUSIONS

The meta-analysis found that, US and MMG has similar diagnostic performance in detecting breast cancer on per-patient basis after corrected threshold effect. However, on a per-lesion basis US was found to have a better diagnostic accuracy than MMG.

Improvement of early detection of breast cancer through collaborative multi-country efforts: Observational clinical study

AIM

The aim of this paper is to present baseline imaging data and the improvement that was achieved by the participating centers after applying practice-specific interventions that were identified during the course of a multicentric multinational research coordinated project.

INTRODUCTION

The incidence and mortality rates from breast cancer are rising worldwide and particularly rapidly across the countries with limited resources. Due to lack of awareness and screening options it is usually detected at a later stage. Breast cancer screening programs and even clinical services on breast cancer have been neglected in such countries particularly due to lack of available equipment, funds, organizational structure and quality criteria.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A harmonized form was designed in order to facilitate uniformity of data collection. Baseline data such as type of equipment, number of exams, type and number of biopsy procedures, stage of cancer at detection were collected from 10 centers (9 countries: Bosnia-Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Egypt, India, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Slovenia, Turkey, Uganda) were collected. Local practices were evaluated for good practice and specific interventions such as training of professionals and quality assurance programs were identified. The centers were asked to recapture the data after a 2-year period to identify the impact of the interventions.

RESULTS

The data showed increase in the number of training of relevant professionals, positive changes in the mammography practice and image guided interventions. All the centers achieved higher levels of success in the implementation of the quality assurance procedures.

CONCLUSION

The study has encountered different levels of breast imaging practice in terms of expertise, financial and human resources, infrastructure and awareness. The most common challenges were the lack of appropriate quality assurance programs and lack of trained skilled personnel and lack of high-quality equipment. The project was able to create higher levels of breast cancer awareness, collaboration amongst participating centers and professionals. It also improved quality, capability and expertise in breast imaging particularly in centers involved diagnostic imaging.