Can Skin Electrical Resistance Be Used as a Screening Tool for Breast Cancer?

By: Joshua D. Madera, MS
Posted: Monday, February 28, 2022

Measurement of skin resistance may be used as both a screening tool for breast cancer and as an evaluation tool for monitoring the success of therapy in patients with breast cancer, according to a study published in IEEE Access. It may provide additional clinical value in conjunction with mammography for performing frequent assessments of individuals for breast cancer, explained Benjamin Sanchez-Terrones, PhD, of the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and colleagues.

“They do one mammogram measurement before, one 6 months later, and one maybe a year later. That’s three times you are measured, and that’s it,” Dr. Sanchez-Terrones said in an institutional press release. “But what about in between? When there is no radiation from a mammogram involved, you can use this to find out how the patient is doing and perhaps change the therapy if necessary.”

A total of 48 women were recruited for the study and stratified based on their diagnosis. Category 1 patients had a confirmed pathologic diagnosis of cancer with no treatment (n = 21), and category 2 patients had a breast lesion that required tissue biopsy but was not pathologically confirmed for cancer. All patients were subjected to repeated skin resistance measurements during an initial session and 1 week after the first measurement in the breast lymphatic region and non-breast lymphatic regions.

The study authors reported significant differences between benign and malignant breast lesions, both before and after treatment (P < 0.05). In addition, they found a sensitivity and specificity of 66.3% and 78.5%, respectively, for this diagnostic algorithm. There was a 75.1% negative predictive value and a 70.7% positive predictive value of the skin resistance measurement.

Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit ieee.org.

IEEE Access

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