Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) provider Dilon Diagnostics is highlighting a study published in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging that shows molecular breast imaging (MBI) to be a useful adjunct to mammography.
Researchers from Guangxi Cancer Hospital in China conducted a meta-analysis of clinical literature using Medline data from 1994 through August 2012. The researchers included 19 papers describing studies with 3,093 patients. They determined that MBI detected 95% of cancers overall, and that it was particularly useful for finding cancers smaller than 1 cm, as well as ductal carcinoma in situ and lobular carcinoma. The modality had sensitivities of 84%, 88%, and 93%, respectively (EJNMMI, February 2013, Vol. 40:3, pp. 450-463).
Lead author Dr. Yu Sun and colleagues found that MBI was as sensitive as breast MRI in detecting breast cancer, but it provided higher specificity (80%); in addition, MBI can be performed for about one-third the cost of breast MRI and is useful for patients who cannot have an MRI study, the team wrote. Study findings also suggested that MBI may be useful to help monitor the response of tumors to chemotherapy in patients who are receiving their chemotherapy before breast surgery.
"Current evidence suggests that BSGI is an extremely useful adjunct to mammography for its ability to identify breast cancer with a high diagnostic performance," Sun's group concluded.
