THE ROLE OF ULTRASOUND IN BREAST-CANCER SCREENING - A CONSENSUS STATEMENT BY THE EUROPEAN GROUP FOR BREAST-CANCER SCREENING

The members of the European Group for Breast Cancer Screening have con sidered the use of ultrasound in breast diagnosis and breast cancer sc reening. After wide consultation and a detailed literature review, the consensus of the Group on the role of ultrasound is as follows: curre nt evidence indicates that ultrasound of the breast is an important ad junct to mammography and clinical examination in the further assessmen t of both palpable and impalpable breast abnormalities. However, the u se of ultrasound in population screening of asymptomatic women is asso ciated with unacceptably high rates of both false positive and false n egative outcomes. At present there is little evidence to support the u se of ultrasound in population breast cancer screening at any age. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.