Stojadinovic A et al. (2005) Electrical impedance scanning for the early detection of breast cancer in young women: preliminary results of a multicenter prospective clinical trial. J Clin Oncol 23: 2703–2715

To address the need for a new screening modality to improve the early detection of breast cancer in young women, Stojadinovic and colleagues have explored the use of electrical impedance scanning (EIS). This technology exploits the difference in electrical impedance properties between malignant and normal tissue, and has been approved in the US as an adjunct to mammography. Since mammography is considered inappropriate in young women, the authors asked whether EIS could be used in conjunction with clinical breast examination.

A total of 1,103 women were examined using the T-Scan™ 2000ED EIS scanner (Mirabel Medical Systems, Austin, TX) in addition to clinical breast examination, imaging or biopsy. Twenty-nine biopsy-confirmed cancers were diagnosed, of which 19 (66%) were nonpalpable and six (21%) occurred in women younger than 40 years of age. The specificity of EIS was 90%. At 50%, the sensitivity of EIS was “relatively low”, although the authors point out that the procedure is designed for the detection of nonpalpable lesions, which would not be identified by clinical breast examination. They conclude, therefore, that EIS shows promise in this setting.