For their study, Dr. Onofrio Catalano, from the University of Naples "Parthenope," and colleagues included 70 patients who had already been treated for breast cancer and who had undergone PET/CT and PET/MR scans on the same day. Two independent readers evaluated the studies for local recurrence and metastases.
PET/MR and PET/CT findings agreed in 59 patients, ruling out recurrent disease and metastases in 24 individuals and identifying recurrent disease or metastases in 35, Catalano's team wrote.
The two modalities did not agree on the following findings:
- Four metastases identified by PET/MR but not detected PET/CT
- One local recurrence found by PET/MR but not seen on PET/CT
- Five findings marked as benign on PET/MR but as metastases on PET/CT
- One sclerotic bony lesion identified by PET/CT but missed by PET/MR
From these results, Catalano and colleagues concluded that PET/MRI of treated breast cancer is a viable alternative to PET/CT.
"PET/MR might represent an innovative and valid tool for accurate follow-up of breast cancer patients," the group wrote.
