April 4, 2017 — Gamma Medica announced in late March that Mercy Medical Center, a member of Catholic Health Services of Long Island, has purchased and installed New York’s first clinical LumaGEM Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) system.
MBI is a secondary screening and diagnostic tool that is particularly useful for women who have dense breast tissue and women with a high risk of being diagnosed with cancer. It is a supplementary screening method to mammography, significantly increasing early detection in women who are at a higher risk due to dense breast tissue.
Approximately 50 percent of U.S. women are reported to have dense breast tissue. However, many women do not realize they have dense breasts or what it means for their increased risk of breast cancer. Because dense breast tissue and cancer both appear white on mammograms, cancer detection through mammography alone is difficult and may lead to false negatives or delayed diagnoses. Over 40,000 U.S. women die from breast cancer annually, making early detection imperative.
“The acquisition of the Molecular Breast Imaging system will better enable the detection of cancer to save lives,” said Mercy’s Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Ron Steimel. “This is just the latest milestone in Mercy’s longstanding dedication to the fight against cancer.”
While mammograms may fail to detect breast tumors due to tissue density, MBI highlights metabolic activity in these tumors despite breast density, leading to an earlier diagnosis. A retrospective clinical study published in the August 2016 issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology confirmed MBI’s high incremental cancer detection rate: MBI was able to detect 7.7 cancers per 1,000 women screened that were not found using mammography. Approximately 85 percent of these cancers were node negative, meaning they were detected at an earlier stage and presented a better prognosis.
“Mercy Medical Center is thrilled to add Gamma Medica’s LumaGEM to our suite of leading breast imaging technology,” said Conellia Ha, M.D., director of radiology at Mercy. “As a supplement to 3-D mammography, MBI will help us detect cancers in dense tissue that may have been missed by mammography alone. We feel confident that LumaGEM will support our mission to provide the best diagnostic care for our patients—the data behind MBI speaks for itself.”
For more information: www.gammamedica.com
