Effectiveness of clinical breast examination in the diagnosis of breast cancer

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy and the most common cause of cancer death in women. Breast cancer is diagnosed with anamnesis, clinical breast examination (CBE), imaging methods, and biopsy. Commonly used breast cancer screening methods are mammography (MG), CBE, and breast self-examination (BSE). Early diagnosis of breast cancer is important in terms of prognosis and cost of the disease. Although it has been proven that MG provides a reduction in breast cancer mortality and advanced-stage breast cancer, the evidence regarding the efficiency of CBE and BSE in the diagnosis of breast cancer is insufficient. Some guides removed CBE from their recommendations. However, CBE continues to be recommended for early diagnosis of breast cancer, especially in developing countries. This study, it was aimed to determine the effectiveness of CBE in the diagnosis of breast cancer. The study was conducted with 1091 patients who applied to Başkent University Faculty of Medicine Hospital General Surgery outpatient clinics between 18.04.2011-19.12.2020, who were diagnosed with breast cancer, who were women, and whose CBE findings were fully recorded. It has been determined that 88.9% of breast cancers can be diagnosed with CBE. Also, it was determined that the sensitivity of MG and CBE in breast cancer diagnosis was similar, and 9% of them were detected by CBE alone, although MG could not detect them. Apart from this, it was determined that 95.1% of them could be detected by breast USG, and breast USG sensitivity was statistically significantly higher than CBE (88.9%) and MG (89.8%). As a result, CBE still maintains its importance in societies where breast cancer awareness and screening participation are low. A breast cancer diagnosis is often made after complaints of a palpable reast mass, and breast cancer is common at a young age. CBE is a very low-cost method that prevents the missed a significant number of breast cancer in diagnosis. Key words: Breast cancer, clinical examination, CBE, mammography, ultrasonography, screening, diagnosis, breast mass