Radiology Test Detects Hard to Find Breast Cancer

Promising Radiology Test Detects Hard to Find Breast cancers

A special radiological nuclear medicine scan has shown great potential for detecting certain breast cancers that are difficult to detect through standard mammography, a new study has found.

The test, called technetium tetrofosmin scintimammography, "compared favorably with standard mammography in detecting cancer in dense breasts, where the disease can be difficult to diagnose," says study lead author Michael A. Blake, M.D. Dr. Blake is currently a fellow in body imaging at the Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA. The study was performed at St. Vincent's and St. Anne's Hospitals, Dublin, Ireland.

The study was presented May 12 at the 99th Annual Meeting of the American Roentgen Ray Society in New Orleans, LA.

The nuclear medicine test, Dr. Blake says, can help doctors target the most appropriate area for a biopsy or it can help reduce biopsies by differentiating between scar tissue and a possibly cancerous tumor. "There are occasions when something looks bad on a mammogram, but with the help of this test it proves to be just a scar from previous surgery, for example," he explains.

Dr. Blake says another use for the test is to examine lumps, often found by women themselves. "This is, of course, very frightening for women to find something like this and the nuclear scan can tell very quickly if there really is a problem that requires biopsy."

The scan, Dr. Blake emphasized, is not a replacement for other techniques; it is an addition to mammography and the other kinds of tests already used effectively. At this point, he says, "this test is useful in certain clinical circumstances and has great potential as an adjunctive imaging test for the breast."

Unlike mammography, the scan does not use compression, but does require I.V. injection which, he says, is well tolerated by patients. Such scans take an average of 45 minutes. Patients lie on both their stomachs and backs for the examination.

The American Roentgen Ray Society, with some 12,000 members, is the first and oldest radiological society in the United States. The society is dedicated to the advancement of medicine through the science of radiology.

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