Significance and Application of Digital Breast Tomosynthesis for the BI-RADS Classification of Breast Cancer

Background: Full-field digital mammography (FFDM) with dense breasts has a high rate of missed diagnosis,and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) could reduce organization overlapping and provide more reliable imagesfor BI-RADS classification. This study aims to explore application of COMBO (FFDM+DBT) for effect andsignificance of BI-RADS classification of breast cancer. Materials and
Methods: In this study, we selected 832patients who had been treated from May 2013 to November 2013. Classify FFDM and COMBO examinationaccording to BI-RADS separately and compare the differences for glands in the image of the same patient injudgment, mass characteristics display and indirect signs. Employ Paired Wilcoxon rank sum test was used in79 breast cancer patients to find differences between two examine methods.
Results: The results indicated thatCOMBO pattern is able to observe more details in distribution of glands when estimating content. Paired Wilcoxonrank sum test showed that overall classification level of COMBO is higher significantly compared to FFDM toBI-RADS diagnosis and classification of breast (P<0.05). The area under FFDM ROC curve is 0.805, while thatis 0.941 in COMBO pattern. COMBO shows relation of mass with the surrounding tissues, the calcification inthe mass, and multiple foci clearly in breast cancer tissues. The optimal sensitivity of cut-off value in COMBOpattern is 82.9%, which is higher than that in FFDM (60%). They share the same specificity which is both 93.2%.
Conclusions: Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) could be used for the BI-RADS classification in breast cancerin clinical.