Breast cancer detection using mammary ductoscopy

Mammary ductoscopy (MD) has been used as a tool to evaluate the breast for cancer for over 10 years. MD allows the direct visualization of the duct lumen, providing a more targeted approach to the diagnosis of disease arising in the ductal system, since the lesion can be visualized and samples collected in the area of interest. Initial studies of MD evaluated women with pathologic spontaneous nipple discharge (PND), while more recent reports are also using MD to assess women without PND for the presence of breast cancer. Cytologic assessment of MD is highly specific but less sensitive in the detection of breast cancer. Nonetheless, a MD sample from a breast with PND may rarely undergo cytologic review and be interpreted as consistent with malignancy, only later to undergo surgical resection demonstrating benign pathology. For this reason, PND specimens interpreted as malignant on cytologic review require histopathologic confirmation prior to instituting therapy. Additional sample evaluation using image or molecular analysis may improve the sensitivity and specificity of MD in breast cancer detection.