Gamma imaging shows pre-operative strength for breast cancer assessment
Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) has a significant value in the pre-operative assessment for the extent of breast cancer in patients with known diagnosis, according to study results presented at The Society of Black Academic Surgeons Annual meeting held in Cleveland, Ohio.
BSGI, a molecular breast imaging technique used for the early detection of breast cancer and in the differentiation of malignant and benign tumors, relies on advanced gamma imaging technology and mammographic positioning to optimize results.
For the study, conducted by a group of surgeons from Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Ore., BSGI was conducted with Dilon Technologies’ high-resolution gamma camera, the Dilon 6800.
The study evaluated 138 patients with a cancer diagnosis. In this group, additional disease was found in 11 percent of patients; 6 percent were in the same breast and 5 percent were in the opposite breast.
The results show that BSGI provided a significantly lower false-positive rate of 7 percent compared to 78 percent with an MRI study conducted by Bilimoria from Northwestern University.
M. Zhou, MD, member of the Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital group of surgeons, concluded that BSGI parallels MRI in sensitivity in the preoperative setting, demonstrates better specificity than MRI and is less expensive than MRI.
BSGI, a molecular breast imaging technique used for the early detection of breast cancer and in the differentiation of malignant and benign tumors, relies on advanced gamma imaging technology and mammographic positioning to optimize results.
For the study, conducted by a group of surgeons from Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Ore., BSGI was conducted with Dilon Technologies’ high-resolution gamma camera, the Dilon 6800.
The study evaluated 138 patients with a cancer diagnosis. In this group, additional disease was found in 11 percent of patients; 6 percent were in the same breast and 5 percent were in the opposite breast.
The results show that BSGI provided a significantly lower false-positive rate of 7 percent compared to 78 percent with an MRI study conducted by Bilimoria from Northwestern University.
M. Zhou, MD, member of the Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital group of surgeons, concluded that BSGI parallels MRI in sensitivity in the preoperative setting, demonstrates better specificity than MRI and is less expensive than MRI.