| Background: Nowadays, breast cancer is the second cause of death after cardiovascular diseases. In general, about
one out of eight women (about 12%) suffer from this disease during their life in the USA and European countries. If
breast cancer is detected at an early stage, its survival rate will be very high. Several methods have been introduced
to diagnose breast cancer with their clinical advantages and disadvantages.
Main text: In this review, various methods of breast imaging have been introduced. Furthermore, the sensitivity
and specificity of each of these methods have been investigated. For each of the imaging methods, articles that
were relevant to the past 10 years were selected through electronic search engines, and then the most relevant
papers were selected. Finally, about 40 articles were studied and their results were categorized and presented in
the form of a report as follows. Various breast cancer imaging techniques were extracted as follows:
mammography, contrast-enhanced mammography, digital tomosynthesis, sonography, sonoelastography, magnetic
resonance imaging, magnetic elastography, diffusion-weighted imaging, magnetic spectroscopy, nuclear medicine,
optical imaging, and microwave imaging.
Conclusion: The choice of these methods depends on the patient’s state and stage, the age of the individual and
the density of the breast tissue. Hybrid imaging techniques appear to be an acceptable way to improve detection
of breast cancer. This review article can be useful in choosing the right method for imaging in people suspected of
breast cancer. |