[Mass screening of breast cancer with imaging diagnosis]

Westernization of our life-style and diet has caused a higher incidence of breast cancer in Japan. Although mass screenings such as anamnesis, visual and palpable examinations are provided by local government in Japan, no curable cancer in the early stage can be detected without the use of imaging diagnosis. Furthermore, the image can be saved as a record. Mammography yields images that are best suited for breast cancer examination in terms of sensitivity, specificity and accuracy. However, the large volume of information collected from the images makes diagnosis extremely difficult. In order to ease the burden on the diagnosing physician and to reduce the examination cost, CRT diagnosis by digital images and image selection by an automatic diagnosis supporting system with neuro-computer must replace the present filming method. On the other hand, 100% accuracy can not be achieved by either mammography or ultrasonic examination due to the limitation in depicting images on a display monitor. The accuracy rates of mammography and ultrasonic examination are 91.5% and 87.5% in our hospital. Imaging diagnosis, however, must be efficiently applied in addition to the visual and palpable examinations in promoting mass screening for breast cancer.