Breast Cancer Diagnostic Efficacy in a Developing South-East Asian Country

Breast Cancer Diagnostic Efficacy in a Developing South-East Asian Country

Background: Breast cancer, is increasing in prevalence amongst South East (SE) Asian women, highlighting the
need for high quality, early diagnoses. This study investigated radiologists’ detection efficacy in a developing (DC)
and developed (DDC) SE Asian country, as compared to Australian radiologists. Methods: Using a test-set of 60
mammographic cases, 20 containing cancer, JAFROC figures of merit (FOM) and ROC area under the curves (AUC)
were calculated as well as location sensitivity, sensitivity and specificity. The test set was examined by 35, 15, and
53 radiologists from DC, a DDC and Australia, respectively. Results: DC radiologists, compared to both groups of
counterparts, demonstrated significantly lower JAFROC FOM, ROC AUC and specificity scores. DC radiologists had
a significantly lower location sensitivity than Australian radiologists. DC radiologists also demonstrated significantly
lower values for age, hours of reading per week, and years of mammography experience when compared with other
radiologists. Conclusion: Significant differences in breast cancer detection parameters can be attributed to the experience
of DC radiologists. The development of inexpensive, innovative, interactive training programs are discussed. This nonuniform level of breast cancer detection between countries must be addressed to achieve the World Health Organisation
goal of health equity.