Community Breast Center Experience Shows Real World Application Of Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging Has Significant Impact On Clinical Care

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: MRI / PET / Ultrasound;  Clinical Trials / Drug Trials
Article Date: 30 Apr 2008 - 0:00 PDT

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Recently published data in The American Journal of Surgery by a group of surgeons from Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, Oregon, demonstrates the value of using Breast-Specific Gamma Imaging (BSGI) for the clinical management of breast cancer patients.

The breast center's first year's experience with BSGI showed the upside of using physiological data obtained from the functional imaging of BSGI over imaging techniques that convey mostly anatomical data -- such as mammography, ultrasound and MRI. Specifically, the results of the study showed that BSGI:

-- Changed patient management in 14% of the cases

-- Detected cancer in 2% of patients with no mammographic findings

-- Detected additional cancers in 6% of patients with known breast disease

-- Correctly ruled out the need for biopsy in 86% of patients with suspicious mammograms

-- Had a false positive rate of only 6%, as compared to 78% in a comparable MRI study.

The authors noted that breast density can cause the effectiveness of mammography to greatly decrease, so other imaging tests are needed to help address this group of high-risk patients. BSGI is not affected by breast density and has exhibited not only high sensitivity for detecting cancer, but also a strong ability to help rule it out.

In the retrospective study, performed by Dr. Nathalie Johnson and colleagues, BSGI was determined to play an important role in their management of patients with complex breast tissue and newly diagnosed cancers. In addition, Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital noted that cost of BSGI was one-third that of MRI for their facility.

Dr. David Maccabee, a surgeon practicing in Hood River, Oregon, stated, this data was clinically relevant and may change the way surgeons practice surgery in the future.

About Dilon Technologies

Dilon Technologies Inc. is bringing innovative new medical imaging products to market. Dilon's cornerstone product, the Dilon 6800, is a high-resolution, small field-of-view gamma camera, optimized to perform BSGI, a molecular breast imaging procedure which images the metabolic activity of breast lesions through radiotracer uptake. Many leading medical centers around the country are now offering BSGI to their patients, including: Cornell University Medical Center, New York; George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, D.C.; Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago; and The Rose, Houston. For more information on Dilon Technologies please visit http://www.dilon.com.

Dilon Technologies
http://www.dilon.com