Value of the full-field digital mammography in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant male breast lesion

ObjectiveTo evaluate the value of full-field digital mammography(FFDM) in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant male breast lesions.

MethodsTwenty-one male patients with breast mass and 65 female breast cancer patients detected by FFDM and pathology from July 2018 to October 2021 were investigated.The clinical and radiographic features of all cases were retrospectively analyzed.The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve(AUC) was used to evaluate the differential diagnosis efficacy of FFDM for benign and malignant breast lesions.

ResultsAmong the 21 cases, 13 cases were benign, and 8 cases were malignant.The incidence rates of mass and peripheral vascular thickening(or increase) in the male breast malignant lesions groups were higher than those in the benign lesions group, and the incidence rate of focal asymmetric shadow of which was lower than that in the benign lesions group(P < 0.05).There was no statistical significance in the incidence rate of structural distortion and nipple depression between two groups(P>0.05).The incidence rate of nipple depression in male breast cancer group was higher than that in female breast cancer group, and the incidence rate of suspected malignant calcification of which was lower than that in female breast cancer group(P < 0.05).The differences of the incidence rates of the mass, focal asymmetric shadow, peripheral vascular thickening(or increase), structural distortion, blurred mass margin and mass burr features between two groups were not statistically significant(P>0.05).The AUC of FFDM for the diagnosis of male breast disease was 0.885, and the sensitivity, specificity, incidence rate, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 100%, 76.9%, 85.7%, 72.7% and 100%, respectively.

ConclusionsFFDM has a good diagnostic value for benign and malignant male breast lesions.The mass and thickening(or increase) of peripheral blood vessels are the most important imaging findings in the diagnosis of male breast cancer.Male mammary gland development was the most common benign lesion, and the benign lesions are mostly manifested as focal asymmetric shadows.