5.23.2009

Breast MRI Detects Additional "Unsuspected" Cancers Not Seen On Mammography Or Ultrasound

Nearly 20% of patients with recently diagnosed breast cancer had additional malignant tumors found only by MRI, according to a study performed at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center.

A total of 199 patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer underwent breast MRI. "We found additional, unsuspected cancers in the ipsilateral breast (the one that had already been diagnosed with cancer) in 16% of patients; we found cancers in the contralateral breast (the one that had not been diagnosed with cancer) in 4% of patients," said Petra J. Lewis, MD, lead author of the study. "These patients had already had bilateral mammography and these tumors had not been apparent on mammography," said Dr. Lewis.

source: Medical News Today

5.18.2009

Germany's Göttingen University Buys ART SoftScan Optical Breast Imaging System

Montreal, Canada, May 12, 2009 - ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. ("ART") (TSX: ARA), a Canadian medical device company and a leader in optical molecular imaging products for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, announced today that it has received a purchase order for one of its SoftScan® breast imaging systems from the Department of Radiology of the University Medical Center Göttingen, in Germany.

"We are very proud to see that the interdisciplinary molecular imaging group of the University of Göttingen, in cooperation with the Max-Planck-Institute of Experimental Medicine, has chosen our SoftScan breast imaging system to conduct world-class research in the field of translational oncology and radiology and to have them among our growing base of clients," said Sébastien Gignac, Chairman & CEO of ART. "The fact that the Interdisciplinary Imaging Group Göttingen, in which radiologists, oncologists, physicists, molecular biologists, imaging scientists and chemists work in close collaboration, has ordered a SoftScan system is testimony to the power of our technology to address the needs of leading researchers in the field of oncology," added Mr. Gignac.

source: ART

5.16.2009

ARRS 2009: Diffusion-Weighted Imaging May Improve Accuracy of Breast MRI

May 4, 2009 (Boston, Massachusetts) — Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) used to distinguish malignant vs benign breast lesions during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is helpful and may reduce the number of unnecessary breast biopsies, according to new research.

DWI is a technique involving the exchange of water molecules (diffusion) between breast tissue compartments. Diffusion rates vary between normal and pathologic tissue. With DWI MRI, the MRI machine is set to detect small restrictions in the free movement of water within the breast. Restricted diffusion areas show as hot spots on the MRI.

"The main aim of our work is to help save women from unnecessary breast biopsies," said lead investigator R. El-Khouli, MD, who lead the study when she was at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, but is now with the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. She presented study results here last week at the American Roentgen Ray Society (ARRS) 2009 Annual Meeting.

source: Medscape

5.10.2009

3T MRI Detects “Early” Breast Cancer Not Seen on Mammography and Sonography

3T MRI, a powerful tool for evaluating patients with a high risk of having breast cancer, can detect a significant number of lesions not found on mammography and sonography, according to a study performed at the University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, OH.

The study included 434 women who underwent mammography, sonography and 3T MRI for the detection of malignant breast lesions—all women were at high risk. Results showed that 3T MRI detected 66/66 malignant lesions; mammography detected 54/66 malignant lesions; and sonography detected 57/66 malignant lesions. “3T MRI depicted a significantly higher number of malignant tumors of the breast than mammography and sonography,” said Haitham Elsamaloty, MD, lead author of the study.

“Our study detected ‘early’ breast cancer (lesions as small as 4 mm) in size and also identified malignant lesions that were only detected by MRI and confirmed by MRI guided biopsy. These crucial findings led to a significant change in patient management in 18.2% of the cases in our study.

“Our study suggests an important role for 3T MRI in such high risk groups for an early diagnosis of breast cancer and better accuracy in evaluating the extent of disease—a crucial factor in appropriate therapy planning,” said Dr. Elsamaloty.

source: ARRS

5.04.2009

Integrating PACS with Digital Mammography was Focus of Presentation at NCBC Meeting

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Integrating digital mammography with PACS proved far better than reading mammograms on mammo-only specialty workstations. That was the conclusion reported by a Pennsylvania hospital, in a poster presentation at the recent National Consortium of Breast Centers’ (NCBC) conference.

The presentation was by Peggy Wright, Supervisor of Women’s Imaging at Butler Health System, in Butler, Penn. She reported on using Butler’s Unity™ RIS/PACS from DR Systems to integrate digital mammography and PACS.

Butler concluded that integrating digital mammography with a mammography-oriented PACS helped the hospital avoid a costly space remodel. It also made reading, results reporting, and billing more efficient and provided better service to referring physicians.

“Not having to spend the capital for a space remodel was a key for us,” said Wright. “Even so, the advantages of integrating our digital mammography equipment with our PACS would probably have led us to that solution even without the space issue. Integrating digital mammography with the DR Systems PACS made it possible for us to reap the clinical and capacity-enhancing advantages of digital mammography, without a loss of efficiency and productivity.”

An imaging facility has two options for implementing full-field digital mammography (FFDM). It can integrate FFDM with its PACS so that all digital imaging modalities are read on the facility’s existing PACS workstation. Or it can have digital mammograms read on special mammography reading stations and mini-PACS acquired from an FFDM vendor.

source: Business Wire