Training in clinical breast examination and the use of a portable ultrasound device to detect breast abnormalities

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) held a two-day workshop in India on 7 and 8 March, to train non-radiologist health providers in the use of a low-cost portable ultrasound device for women with abnormal findings on clinical breast examination. The workshop took place as part of the launch of a new research project to evaluate the device as a tool to triage women who screened positive for breast cancer by clinical breast examination. The project is being conducted in collaboration with the Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, part of the Department of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of West Bengal, in Kolkata (India).

The study will be conducted in multiple secondary-level public hospitals, thus emulating real-world conditions in India. It will evaluate the agreement between use of the device and mammography or ultrasonography performed by a radiologist in differentiating between malignant and benign solid breast lesions.

Clinical breast examination has been recommended as a test for the early detection of breast cancer in low- and middle-income countries. However, a high false-positive rate and a low positive predictive value mean that women may have unnecessary and expensive further diagnostic procedures, as well as negative psychological consequences. An efficient triage test can reduce patient anxiety and inconvenience, overtreatment, and overall management costs. The outcomes of this project will provide important evidence to improve breast cancer screening in countries that use clinical breast examination as a screening test, and will support the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Breast Cancer Initiative.