ABSTRACT
Breast problems are very common and result in considerable anxiety until a clear diagnosis is reached. The mainstays of breast diagnosis are clinical examination by an expert breast clinician/practitioner, imaging and pathological diagnosis. Breast radiation dose is lower for equivalent thickness of breast tissue, and sensitivity is better for malignant disease in dense breasts. Magnetic resonance imaging of the breast is becoming increasingly important for the assessment of indeterminate abnormalities, offering an alternative imaging test with high contrast resolution and sensitivity. Radionuclide imaging has little part to play in primary diagnosis in the breast itself, and ‘scintimammography’ is not recommended by the British Society of Breast Radiologists due to the high radiation dose. There are two main types of breast cancer, namely ductal and lobular. Any patient presenting with a mass in the breast requires biopsy as part of the triple assessment, except possibly young women with a typical fibroadenoma.
