Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging Shown Comparable to MRI

Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI), also known as molecular breast imaging (MBI), has been found to be equivalent to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as an adjunct imaging modality in the diagnosis of breast cancer. BSGI/MBI may be particularly useful for the evaluation of high-risk women or those with dense breasts.

These findings were presented at the 2011 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting held in Chicago (IL, USA), November 27-December 2, 2011. According to the study authors, MRI has become increasingly popular as an adjunct to mammography in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Despite its sensitivity in lesion detection, MRI is expensive and can cause patient discomfort. BSGI/MBI has similar sensitivity to MRI, costs less, and is comfortable for the patient. This study was designed to compare the two modalities directly.

It was concluded that BSGI/MBI results led to additional workup and detection of occult malignancies. In fact, negative MRI scans without contradictory BSGI/MBI results would have led to six missed malignant tumors in this study. Also, the authors noted that as the study demonstrated BSGI/MBI’s equivalency to MRI in the diagnosis of breast cancer, that BSGI/MBI may be useful for the assessment of high-risk women or those with dense breasts. For this study, BSGI/MBI was conducted with a high-resolution gamma camera, the Dilon (Jefferson News, VA, USA) 6800.

Beyond demonstrating that BSGI/MBI is equivalent to MRI in the diagnoses of breast cancer, Dr. Nathalie Johnson, chief breast surgeon at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital (Portland, OR, USA), and author on this study, expanded upon BSGI/MBI’s clinical relevance, “Its application may be particularly relevant for evaluation of newly diagnosed breast cancer to rule out additional disease with a lower false-positive rate.”

As a follow-up to mammography, BSGI/MBI utilizes the Dilon 6800 gamma camera to help physicians more distinctly distinguish benign from malignant tissue. To perform BSGI/MBI, the patient receives a pharmaceutical tracing agent that is absorbed by all the cells in the body. Due to their increased rate of metabolic activity, cancerous cells in the breast absorb a greater amount of the tracing agent than normal healthy cells and typically appear as dark spots on the BSGI/MBI image.

Related Links:
Dilon
Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital