To evaluate if clinical breast examination (CBE) is a reliable tool for diagnosis of palpable breast lesions, from July 2002 to October 2003, 371patients (445 palpable breast lesions) were examined by single experienced clinician and compared with fine needle aspiration (FNA) results. CBE had sensitivity of 57.14%, specificity 97.11%, positive predictive value (PPV) 76.60%, negative predictive value (NPV) 93.20%, false negative (FN) 0.06%, false positive (FP) 0.02%, and overall accuracy 91.44%. There was concordance in 91.44%. Of a total of 397 benign clinical suspections, 199 episodes were found to be cysts (50.13%). CBE alone even in an experienced clinician is not a reliable tool for diagnosis of palpable breast lesion whether it is malignant or not, but it can be used as a primary and simple tool for benign suspicious palpable breast lesion, particularly cystic breast lesion.

Keywords: Clinical breast examination, Palpable breast lesion