Improvement in Early Detection of Breast Cancer by Combining Aspiration Biopsy Cytology and Xeromammography

Accuracy and problems in diagnosis of breast tumors, especially those not more than 2.0 cm in diameter, were reviewed for 157 patients with breast tumors (94 primary cancer and 63 benign). They were diagnosed by aspiration biopsy cytology and xeromammography at their first examinations at our clinic from the end of October 1981 to the end of December 1985. The efficiency by aspiration biopsy cytology was 93.0% and that by xeromammography was 83.4%. The efficiency for the concurrent use of both methods was 96.8%. For small breast cancers not more than 1.0 cm and scirrhous cancers, the detection rate by either method was slightly lower but not significantly different. Aspiration biopsy cytology, in particular, showed a detection rate as high as 96.6% for those tumors more than 2.0 cm.