Optical spectroscopy. Pre-mammography marker.

Non-invasive optical spectroscopy consistently delineates compositional and physiologic properties of breast tissues serving as a pre-mammography risk marker for cancer or yielding a high assurance of no such risk. We believe this new non-imaging approach depends on biochemistry of tissues rather than on the macroscopic physical properties involved with most breast imaging modalities. After establishing the procedure as inexpensive, physician independent, simple, requiring only a few minutes and appealing to women, it was carried out in two institutions on 1739 women referred for routine mammography. Of 166 breast biopsies on these women 77 were cancer by histology. An automated computerized analysis of the spectroscopic data yielded a sensitivity of 87 per cent, a specificity of 74 per cent and a negative predictive value of 99 per cent. Optical spectroscopy shows promise in identifying women at a higher risk for developing cancer, cases of non-infiltration carcinomas where dense breasts limit mammographic detection, and even clustered calcifications not associated with a mass. The relative risk of breast cancer was 16.5 times as great with a positive spectroscopic value at a sensitivity range of 87 per cent. Placement of 87 per cent of all breast cancer cases in a subset of 28.7 per cent of all women will yield a population of women in whom mammography will be approximately four times as efficient.