Positron emission mammography (PEM) developer Naviscan of San Diego is touting the results of a multiyear study of 388 women that found that PEM scanners significantly out-performed MRI to differentiate between benign and cancerous lesions.
The purpose of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded study was to discover additional or secondary breast tumors to help direct treatment options. Researchers found that PEM scans accurately distinguished 151 of 180 benign additional lesions, for 80% specificity. Breast MRI had a specificity of 66%.
In addition, the study revealed that to increase reliability in identification of lesions, both technologies should be employed. PEM plus MRI scanning saw an additional 31 (out of 116 total) lesions, yielding a 20% absolute increase in sensitivity when compared with MRI alone.
Related Reading
Naviscan adds global distributors, June 24, 2009
Naviscan ends trial enrollment, gets FDA OK, December 19, 2008
PEM may reduce false-positive reports, December 3, 2008
Road to RSNA, Molecular Imaging, Naviscan, October 28, 2008
Naviscan nets NYC customer, August 13, 2008
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