Diagnostic value of ultrasound and mammography in the screening and early diagnosis of breast carcinoma by receiver operating characteristic analysis

Objective To evaluate the diagnostic value of ultrasound and mammography in the screening and early diagnosis of breast carcinoma using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Methods Sixty-six patients with clinically suspected breast carcinoma were respectively examined with ultrasound, mammography and combination of ultrasound and mammography. The diagnosis was made according to size, shape, borderline, envelope, inner and post echo, microcalcification, ect. The surgical findings and pathology were taken as gold standard, the results were evaluated by ROC analysis using five-point categorical scale ranged from definitely abnormal to definitely norm. Results It was shown that the ROC curve for diagnosis with combination of ultrasound and mammography was closer to the ideal discrimination function than those with ultrasound or mammography alone. The area under ROC curve for diagnosis with combination of ultrasound and mammography (0.967) was significantly (P 0.05) larger than that with ultrasound (0.886) or mammography (0.856). Conclusion Combination of ultrasound and mammographyalone can provide more value than ultrasound or mammography alone in the screening and early diagnosis of breast carcinoma .