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Reprinted with permission from the article, "MBI Shows Promise in Women with Dense Breast Tissue and Increased Risk," RSNA News, December 2008, Volume 18, No. 12, Copyright (c) 2008 Radiological Society of North America, Inc. The article is online at http://www.rsna.org//Publications//rsnanews/December-2008/MBI_feature.cfm.

The use of Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) appears to be promising for some women, according to RSNA News. A new study compares MBI to mammography for establishing an additional detection tool for women with dense breasts, who are at higher risk of developing breast cancer. About one-quarter of women aged 40 and older have dense breasts.

The abstract for the study -- molecular breast imaging to screen for breast cancer in women with mammographically dense breasts and increased risk--is on the webpage of the American Society for Clinical Oncology. The study was also presented in 2008 at an American Society of Clinical Oncology symposium.

According to the study, MBI imaging of the breast using a dedicated breast camera, had a strong performance. The results showed that these specially designed MBI cameras "revealed more tumors and produced fewer false alarms, but researchers emphasized that the experimental technology will not replace mammograms for any women."

"At this time we think mammography works well in most women, so we see this as an adjunct for women whom mammography doesn't serve well," said Carrie B. Hruska, M.D., Ph.D., the study's lead author. "One of the benefits of mammography is that it detects microcalcifications. We are not yet sure that MBI can do that." Dr. Hruska is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Department of Radiology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. She explained that the study's initial enrollment included 1,000 asymptomatic women presenting for their annual mammogram.

"To be included in the study the women had to have dense breast tissue, more than 50 percent dense, and another risk factor such as family history, personal history, BRCA mutation or something that elevated their risk even further," said Dr. Hruska.

RSNA News also quotes Jennifer A. Harvey, M.D., a professor of radiology at the University of Virginia Health Sciences Center in Charlottesville, VA, who said the study is very promising. "MBI has been around for awhile but has not been well utilized or popular because it has traditionally been done with a gamma camera for whole-body imaging and the resolution was poor," said Dr. Harvey, who chairs the breast imaging subcommittee of the RSNA Scientific Program Committee. "The development of gamma cameras that are smaller and get closer to the breast is where we are going to be able to see more cancers and smaller cancers," said Dr. Harvey. "The survival rates and treatment will be much better if the disease can be found at its earliest point."

Continue reading MBIs Promising for Some Women in Cancer Detection...

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