Comparison of breast tumours evaluated by ultrasound, mammography, and clinical investigation

One hundred eleven palpable breast tumours were evaluated clinically, by mammography, and by ultrasound; upon histological examination 51 of the tumours turned out to be malignant and 60 benign. In 44 tumours, which appeared malignant on the ultrasound scan, the axilla was also scanned and the findings were compared with the results of histological examination of excised lymph nodes. The diagnostic accuracy for malignancy of breast tumours was 86.3% for ultrasound scans, 80.4% for mammography, and 78.4% for clinical evaluation; the respective diagnostic accuracy for benign lesions was 88.3%, 85%, and 91.7%. Of 36 enlarged reactive or malignant lymph nodes, 32 were detected by ultrasound and only 18 by clinical examination.