For the evaluation of non-palpable lesions of the breast, image-guided large-core needle biopsies are increasingly replacing needle-localized open breast biopsies. In this study, the diagnostic accuracy of this minimally invasive technique was evaluated by reviewing the available literature. Five cohort studies were included in a meta-analysis. Sensitivity rate, histological agreement between needle biopsy and subsequent surgery or long-term mammographic follow-up and clinical consequences for different disease prevalences were assessed. The sensitivity rate of large-core needle biopsy for the diagnosis of breast cancer was high (97%). The reclassified agreement rate between core biopsy and subsequent surgical biopsy or long-term mammographic follow-up was also high (94%). In case of 20% breast cancer prevalence among women referred after screening (as in the US), the risk of breast cancer despite benign large-core needle biopsy result is less than 1%. In European countries, however, prevalence of breast cancer among referred women is 60–70%. This would result in a risk of breast cancer despite benign large-core needle biopsy result of 4–6%. The results of this meta-analysis indicate that the image guided large-core needle biopsy is a promising alternative for the needle localized breast biopsy. However, additional research is needed to explore the limiting factors of the technique. Without such detailed knowledge, a benign histological diagnosis on large-core needle biopsy in countries with high prevalence of malignancy among referred women should be interpreted with caution. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign

Interventional ductoscopy is technically feasible and may help to avoid surgery in the majority of patients. As endoscopic removal of intraductal lesions is not always possible and malignancy can be the underlying cause of PND, ductoscopic instruments should be further optimized to allow definitive histological diagnosis.

The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic importance of positive peritoneal cytology in early-stage endometrial cancer. All 278 stage I and 53 stage IIIA (without cervical involvement) endometrial cancer patients operated between 1980 and 1996, recorded at the Geneva Cancer registry, were included. Stage IIIA cancers were recategorised into 'cytological' stage IIIA (positive peritoneal cytology alone, n ¼ 33) and 'histological' stage IIIA (serosal or adnexal infiltration, n ¼ 20). Survival rates were analysed by KaplanMeier method and compared using log-rank test. The prognostic importance of cytology was analysed using a Cox model, accounting for other prognostic factors. The 5-year disease-specific survival of cytological stage IIIA cancer was similar to stage I (91 vs 92%) and better than histological stage IIIA cancer (50%, Po0.001). After adjustment for age, myometrial invasion, differentiation and radiotherapy, cytological stage IIIA patients were still at similar risk to die from endometrial cancer compared to stage I patients (hazard ratio (HR) 0.7, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.18 -2.3), while histological stage IIIA patients were at a four-fold increased risk to die from their disease (HR 4.2, 95% CI: 1.7 -10.3). This population-based study shows that positive peritoneal cytology in itself has no impact on survival of patients with localised endometrial cancer. Based on the present and previous studies, FIGO (Fédération Internationale de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique) might consider reviewing its classification system.

Ductoscopy detects about 94 per cent of all underlying malignancies in patients with PND, but does not permit reliable discrimination between malignant and benign findings.

No abstract

NLBB is an accurate diagnostic procedure for the evaluation of impalpable breast disease. However, with longer follow-up the accuracy becomes lower than generally reported.

Background:Within a setting without organised breast cancer screening, the characteristics and survival of very early breast cancer were determined.Methods:All 4930 women diagnosed with breast cancer in University Malaya Medical Center, Malaysia from 1993 to 2011 were included. Factors associated with very early presentation (stage I) at diagnosis were identified. Tumour characteristics, management patterns, and survival of very early breast cancer were described, and where appropriate, compared with other settings.Results:Proportion of women presenting with stage I breast cancer significantly increased from 15.2% to 25.2% over two decades. Factors associated with very early presentation were Chinese ethnicity, positive family history of breast cancer, and recent period of diagnosis. Within stage I breast cancers, median tumour size at presentation was 1.5 cm. A majority of stage I breast cancer patients received mastectomy, which was associated with older age, Chinese ethnicity, postmenopausal status, and larger tumours. Chemotherapy was administered in 36% of patients. Five-year age-adjusted relative survival for women with stage I breast cancer was 99.1% (95% CI: 97.6–99.6%).Conclusions:The proportion of women presenting with very early breast cancer in this setting without organised screening is increasing. These women seem to survive just as well as their counterparts from affluent settings.

Among patients undergoing stereotactic needle biopsy of the breast on a prone biopsy table, a substantial proportion of planned procedures are terminated prematurely. This study was undertaken to identify risk factors for cancellation of these procedures and to derive a clinical rule for predicting cancellation. Risk factors for cancellation were assessed in a group of 476 consecutive patients with non-palpable lesions planned for large core needle biopsy. 64 (13%) of these planned procedures were cancelled. Multivariate regression analysis was applied to identify independent risk factors for cancellation. Validation took place by applying the logistic rule on a validation set, including 5 cancelled and 35 successful biopsy procedures. Mammograms that were difficult to interpret owing to extremely dense breast tissue, axillary location of the non-palpable lesion, body mass index below 20, less than 15 mm distance from the lesion to the chest wall or the presence of more than one non-palpable lesion were identified as independent risk factors. The logistic rule discriminated patients with successful and cancelled biopsy procedures with a receiver operator characteristic (ROC) area of 0.72. In the validation set, the area under the ROC curve was 0.92. The prediction rule, based on mammographic and clinical findings, discriminated patients with successful and cancelled needle biopsy procedures to a certain extent. The risk of cancellation of the stereotacic biopsy procedure is considerable in cases of very dense breast tissue or the presence of multiple risk factors.