The diagnostic efficacy of mammography and palpation in early detection of breast cancer.

The diagnostic efficacy of mammography and physical examination, separately and considered together, are evaluated in 912 cases of breast cancer detected at the Center for Social Diseases of the Florence District, where there is a mass-screening program (110 cases) and a diagnostic service for self-referred women (810 cases). The overall sensitivity of the 2 methods increases with age; the trends of diagnostic efficacies of mammography and palpation according to age are similar, except in the 40-44 year age group, in which physical examination has a lower percentage of false-negative cases. In the screening group, there is a greater proportion of nonpalpable cancers and mammography has a larger diagnostic efficacy except in the 40-44 year age group. These results agree with the better sensitivity of mammography in smaller lesion (TI) and with the larger proportion of noninterpretable mammographies in younger women, because of the density of mammalian glands.