Is there a threshold for red cell distribution width to predict malignancy in breast masses?

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Hematology

Background:

• Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a parameter reflecting red blood cell volume variation.
• RDW has demonstrated prognostic capabilities in various diseases and solid tumors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the discriminative power of RDW in distinguishing between benign and malignant breast lesions.
• To assess RDW's utility as a potential biomarker for breast cancer.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective cohort study comparing RDW levels in patients with fibroadenomas (Group A) and breast cancer with lymph node metastasis (Group B).
• Exclusion criteria included hemoglobin levels below 12 mg/dl; outliers were removed.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine RDW's predictive threshold for malignancy.

Main Results:

• A significant difference in RDW levels was observed between the fibroadenoma group (13.10%) and the breast cancer group (13.80%) (P = 0.00).
• The area under the ROC curve was 0.71, indicating moderate discriminative ability.
• At a threshold of 13.75%, RDW achieved a positive predictive value of 67.35% and a negative predictive value of 67.42%.

Conclusions:

• Adjusted RDW levels demonstrate a positive predictive value for malignancy in over two-thirds of patients at a threshold of 13.75%.
• RDW shows potential as an accessible biomarker to aid in the diagnosis of breast cancer.