Hashemi B, Hasanaj F, Akbari M E, Mirzaei H R, Mojtahed M, Bakhshandeh M
PhD, Department of Medical Physics, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
MSc, Graduate, Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
J Biomed Phys Eng. 2019 Dec 1;9(6):621-628. doi: 10.31661/jbpe.v0i0.468. eCollection 2019 Dec.
Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer in women demanding accurate diagnosis to take remedial measures to treat.
Comparing the diagnostic capability of the computer regulation thermography (CRT), as a novel and safe diagnostic procedure, with common methods including sonography, mammography and clinical examinations for diagnosing breast cancer in suspicious patients against pathology as the gold standard.
In this prospective clinical trial study, out of 97 referred patients, 44 meeting the inclusion criteria were selected. The selected patients were subjected to mammography, sonography, CRT and clinical examinations. Then, the patients showing suspicious symptoms of breast cancer underwent pathological examinations.
CRT indicated a higher specificity compared to mammography and sonography (78.9% vs. 71.4% and 47.0%, respectively). However, CRT sensitivity was lower than those of mammography, sonography and clinical examination (52% vs. 70.6%, 82.4% and 84.0%). Furthermore, CRT accuracy was lower than mammography, sonography and clinical examination (63.6% vs. 70.9%, 64.7% and 88.6%). While CRT positive prediction value (PPV) was higher than those of mammography and sonography, it was lower than that of clinical examination (76.5% vs. 75%, 60.9% and 95.5%). The negative prediction value (NPV) of CRT was less than all other modalities (55.5% vs. 66.7%, 72.7% and 81.8% for the clinical examination, mammography and sonography, respectively).
Although CRT with a lower sensitivity and higher specificity, cannot be recommended to be used as a definitive diagnostic tool for breast cancer patients, it can be used as a complementary method with other methods to increase the diagnostic accuracy of suspicious patients.
乳腺癌是女性中最常见的癌症类型，需要准确诊断以采取治疗措施。
将计算机调节热成像（CRT）这一新型安全诊断程序的诊断能力，与包括超声、乳房X线摄影和临床检查在内的常用方法进行比较，以针对病理检查这一金标准，对可疑患者的乳腺癌进行诊断。
在这项前瞻性临床试验研究中，从97名转诊患者中选取了44名符合纳入标准的患者。对选定的患者进行乳房X线摄影、超声检查、CRT和临床检查。然后，对出现乳腺癌可疑症状的患者进行病理检查。
与乳房X线摄影和超声检查相比，CRT显示出更高的特异性（分别为78.9%、71.4%和47.0%）。然而，CRT的敏感性低于乳房X线摄影、超声检查和临床检查（分别为52%、70.6%、82.4%和84.0%）。此外，CRT的准确性低于乳房X线摄影、超声检查和临床检查（分别为63.6%、70.9%、64.7%和88.6%）。虽然CRT的阳性预测值（PPV）高于乳房X线摄影和超声检查，但低于临床检查（分别为76.5%、75%、60.9%和95.5%）。CRT的阴性预测值（NPV）低于所有其他检查方式（临床检查、乳房X线摄影和超声检查的NPV分别为55.5%、66.7%、72.7%和81.8%）。
虽然CRT敏感性较低、特异性较高，但不建议将其用作乳腺癌患者的确定性诊断工具，不过它可作为一种补充方法与其他方法结合使用，以提高可疑患者的诊断准确性。
