Examining the sensitivity of ultrasound-guided large core biopsy for invasive breast carcinoma in a population screening programme

Abstract

Introduction To evaluate the sensitivity of ultrasound-guided core-needle biopsy (UCB) in invasive breast carcinoma and to establish causes of false-negative biopsy in a population screening programme. Method We identified 571 consecutive women diagnosed with surgically proven invasive breast cancer. Histology from 14-gauge UCB was compared with surgical histology to identify true-positive and false-negative ultrasound core biopsies. True-positive and false-negative groups were compared for tumour size and histology. On blinded review of UCB images and pathology reports from false negative (n = 20) and a random sample of true-positive cases (n = 80), we compared core sample number and needle..