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New breast imaging technology targets hard-to-detect cancers
December 03, 2008CHICAGO - Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) is effective in the detection of cancers not found on mammograms or by clinical exam, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
"BSGI can identify the most difficult to detect breast cancer-invasive lobular carcinoma," said lead author Rachel F. Brem, M.D., professor of radiology and director of the Breast Imaging and Interventional Center at The George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "It also can help us detect additional lesions of all types of breast cancer in women whose mammograms show only one suspicious lesion."
Breast cancer affects more women than any other non-skin cancer and, according to the American Cancer Society, accounts for more than 40,000 deaths annually in the U.S. Most experts agree that the best way to decrease breast cancer mortality is through early detection using mammography and clinical breast exam. However, some cancers are difficult to detect with mammography and clinical exam, particularly in the earliest stage when treatment is most effective.
While mammography findings are characterized by the difference in appearance between normal and suspicious breast tissue, BSGI findings are based on how cancerous cells function.
"It is this physiological approach to breast cancer diagnosis that allows for improved cancer detection," Dr. Brem said.
BSGI is an emerging molecular imaging technology using a high-resolution gamma camera that allows for imaging with very mild compression of the breast along with an injection of a low-dose nuclear material called a radiotracer, which is absorbed by the cells. Because cancerous cells have a higher rate of metabolic activity, the tracer is taken up by these cells at a higher level than in normal cells.
Dr. Brem and colleagues reviewed the records of 159 women with at least one suspicious or cancerous lesion found by mammography or physical exam, who had undergone BSGI to determine if additional lesions were present.
BSGI results showed an additional suspicious lesion missed by mammography and physical exam in 46 (29 percent) of the women. In 14 (36 percent) of the 39 women who underwent biopsy, the newly discovered lesions were cancerous.
"The data suggest that BSGI allows for the diagnosis of more and earlier breast cancers," Dr. Brem said.
Dr. Brem pointed out that BSGI is not meant to replace mammography, but to be used as an adjunct to mammography. "It is an excellent tool for locating difficult-to-detect cancers and for screening high-risk women who have normal mammograms and physical examination," she said.
Radiological Society of North America
While mammography findings are characterized by the difference in appearance between normal and suspicious breast tissue, BSGI findings are based on how cancerous cells function.
"It is this physiological approach to breast cancer diagnosis that allows for improved cancer detection," Dr. Brem said.
BSGI is an emerging molecular imaging technology using a high-resolution gamma camera that allows for imaging with very mild compression of the breast along with an injection of a low-dose nuclear material called a radiotracer, which is absorbed by the cells. Because cancerous cells have a higher rate of metabolic activity, the tracer is taken up by these cells at a higher level than in normal cells.
Dr. Brem and colleagues reviewed the records of 159 women with at least one suspicious or cancerous lesion found by mammography or physical exam, who had undergone BSGI to determine if additional lesions were present.
BSGI results showed an additional suspicious lesion missed by mammography and physical exam in 46 (29 percent) of the women. In 14 (36 percent) of the 39 women who underwent biopsy, the newly discovered lesions were cancerous.
"The data suggest that BSGI allows for the diagnosis of more and earlier breast cancers," Dr. Brem said.
Dr. Brem pointed out that BSGI is not meant to replace mammography, but to be used as an adjunct to mammography. "It is an excellent tool for locating difficult-to-detect cancers and for screening high-risk women who have normal mammograms and physical examination," she said.
Radiological Society of North America
Mammography Current Events and Mammography News RSSResearcher: 'Optical biopsy' for breast cancer increasingly accurate
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URI research couple's method targets cancerous tumors
Two University of Rhode Island associate professors, biophysicists Yana Reshetnyak and Oleg Andreev, have discovered a technology that can detect cancerous tumors and deliver treatment to them without the harming the healthy cells surrounding them, thereby significantly reducing side effects.
Study finds delay in follow-up among African-American women receiving abnormal breast finding
A new analysis has identified a significant delay in follow-up times among African-American women after the finding of a suspicious breast abnormality.
New data: Hospital imaging centers poised to pull back, hitting patients hardest in rural areas
Survivors and patients with cancers and heart disease, along with patient advocate organizations and physicians, today urged policymakers to enhance early diagnosis of deadly diseases by preserving access to advanced imaging, such as MRI and CT scans, in final health care reform legislation.
Breast tenderness during hormone replacement therapy linked to elevated cancer risk
Women who developed new-onset breast tenderness after starting estrogen plus progestin hormone replacement therapy were at significantly higher risk for developing breast cancer than women on the combination therapy who didn't experience such tenderness, according to a new UCLA study.
Breast cancer patients with high risk gene diagnosed 6 years earlier than generation before
Women with a deleterious gene mutation are diagnosed with breast cancer six years earlier than relatives of the previous generation who also had the disease and/or ovarian cancer, according to new research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
Researchers fine-tune Diffuse Optical Tomography for breast cancer screening
Clemson University researchers in collaboration with researchers at the University of Bremen, Germany, are working to make the physical pain and discomfort of mammograms a thing of the past, while allowing for diagnostic imaging eventually to be done in a home setting.
Surgeons' unanimous consensus: Needle biopsy is gold standard for breast cancer diagnosis
A special report published in the October issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons indicates that an alarming 35% of initial diagnostic breast biopsies in the United States are still being done using unnecessary open surgical techniques.
Researchers believe hormone therapy should not be stopped prior to mammograms
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) are recommending that menopausal women on hormone therapy (HT) continue their treatment prior to having their annual mammogram screenings.
Research needed to learn which DCIS patients may be candidates for less invasive therapy
Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the most common non-invasive lesion of the breast, presents unique challenges for patients and providers largely because the natural course of the untreated disease is not well understood.
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