Fine-needle aspiration biopsy of nonpalpable breast lesions in a multicenter clinical trial: results from the radiologic diagnostic oncology group V.

PURPOSE: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasonographically (US) and stereotactically guided fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) in the diagnosis of nonpalpable breast lesions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: At 18 institutions, 442 women who underwent 22-25-gauge imaging-guided FNAB were enrolled. Definitive surgical, core-needle biopsy, and/or follow-up information was available for 423 (95.7%) of these women. The reference standard was established from additional clinical and imaging information for an additional six (1.4%) women who did not undergo further histopathologic evaluation. The FNAB protocol was standardized at all institutions, and all specimens were reread by one of two expert cytopathologists.

RESULTS: When insufficient samples were included in the analysis and classified as positive, the sensitivity and specificity of FNAB were 85%-88% and 55.6%-90.5%, respectively; accuracy ranged from 62.2% to 89.2%. The diagnostic accuracy of FNAB was significantly better for detection of masses than for detection of calcifications (67.3% vs. 53.8%, P =.006) and with US guidance than with stereotactic guidance (77.2% vs. 58.9%; P =.002).

CONCLUSION: FNAB of nonpalpable breast lesions has limited value given the high insufficient sample rate and greater diagnostic accuracy of other interventions, including core-needle biopsy and needle-localized open surgical biopsy.