Most available diagnostic methods for early detection of breast cancer detect tumor after it had reached a relatively dangerous size concerning tumor pathogenesity. Besides , most are either invasive or harmful of of limited applications.e.g:fna, mammography,C.T scan and others.
You have mentioned in your question all the available methods for cancer detection available nowadays. (Only ultrasound scan seems to be missing). At clinical level and at reasonable costs there is nothing else available for the practioner physician.
Genetic studies may identify a group of patients with BRCA mutation. But the cost of these studies is so high that only population with family history of BREAST CANCER at early age should be studied.
Other population at risk because of genetic mutations besides BRCA 1 and 2 are very difficult to identify. Besides genotyping identifies population at risk but does not identify the disease.
Probably mammograms and breast US continue to be the main sources for diagnosis.
Breast MRI will probably in the next future become an earlier diagnostic tool.
Conventionally, Mammogram and sonogram are methods to detect breast cancer. However, dense breasts, limit the sensitivity of mammogram. At times sonogram too is equivocal. MRI breast is very sensitive method of detecting early breast cancer. However, It has low specificity meaning false positive finding are common.
Invasive procedures to confirm, early breast cancer are localizing the doubtful lesion with sonogram/ mammogram and excise to confirm the occult or early invasive malignancy. Similarly sonoguided suction biopsy machine can help to obtain specimen of up to 1 cm to detect the malignancy fro suspicious lesion.
Genetic Screening BREAST CANCER GENE1 and BREAST CANCER GENE2
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