Molecular Breast Imaging Is Superior to Ultrasound and Mammography for the Detection of Breast Cancer

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Dilon Diagnostics -- According to a new study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) in January 2012, Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI), also known as Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging (BSGI), can detect cancers missed by the two most common breast imaging studies, mammography and ultrasound. BSGI had the highest overall sensitivity (91%) for breast cancer detection, significantly higher than that of mammography and ultrasound, 74% and 84% respectively. In addition, BSGI was more effective than ultrasound in contributing to patient management when the results of these studies changed the diagnosis provided by mammography.

In this multi-center study of 1042 patients at four institutions, BSGI had an outstanding overall sensitivity of 91% and negative predictive value (NPV) of 96%. The BSGI procedures were conducted with a high-resolution gamma camera, the Dilon 6800®. For patients who had adjunctive imaging procedures with results discordant from those for mammography, BSGI provided higher diagnostic accuracy than ultrasound (77% vs 35%). The group of patients with indeterminate mammograms (BI-RADS 0) received the greatest benefit from use of BSGI. For the BI-RADS 0 patients, BSGI was significantly more likely to contribute to patient management than ultrasound, it was less likely to be negative in cancerous lesions and was less likely to be positive in benign lesions. Interestingly 85% of the patients included in this study had dense breast tissue.

source: MarketWatch