June 23, 2010 – New guidelines for breast scintigraphy with breast-specific gamma cameras were established this week by the Society of Nuclear Medicine Procedure Guidelines Committee. This protocol serves as a guide to clinicians performing breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) to ensure optimal clinical results and will help improve the understanding of how and when to use this molecular breast imaging technique.

Mammography is very useful in the detection of breast cancer, but for some women, the mammogram can be difficult to interpret due to the presence of complex, dense breast tissue. With BSGI, the patient receives a pharmaceutical tracing agent that is absorbed by all the cells in the body. Due to their increased rate of metabolic activity, cancerous cells in the breast absorb a greater amount of the tracing agent than normal, healthy cells and generally appear as focal areas on the BSGI image. As a result, BSGI can see lesions independent of breast tissue density and discover early stage cancers hidden by complex breast tissue.

Several studies have determined that combining BSGI and mammography greatly improves the detection of breast cancer over the use of either imaging study alone. In addition, several recent studies have shown BSGI to have comparable sensitivity but superior specificity when compared to MRI. Therefore, like MRI, BSGI can detect cancers missed by the mammogram, but it leads to fewer biopsies of benign lesions.

For more information: www.snm.org


Related Content

News | Breast Imaging

July 8, 2025 — QT Imaging Holdings, has appointed Elaine Iuanow, MD, as chief medical officer (CMO) and Kim Du as senior ...

Time July 09, 2025
arrow
News | Breast Imaging

July 7, 2025 — SimonMed Imaging, one of the largest outpatient medical imaging providers in the United States, has ...

Time July 08, 2025
arrow
News | Breast Imaging

June 25, 2025 — QT Imaging Holdings, Inc., a medical device company engaged in research, development, and ...

Time June 25, 2025
arrow
News | Women's Health

June 23, 2025 — Susan G. Komen, the world’s leading breast cancer organization, recently announced it is awarding $10.8 ...

Time June 23, 2025
arrow
Feature | Women's Health | Christine Murray

In breast cancer detection, speed and accuracy are more than clinical goals – they can significantly increase chances ...

Time June 17, 2025
arrow
News | PET Imaging

May 30, 2025 — GE HealthCare recently announced that the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines) ...

Time May 30, 2025
arrow
News | Imaging Software Development

May 27, 2025 — DeepLook Medical, a company advancing medical imaging through visual enhancement technology, recently ...

Time May 28, 2025
arrow
News | Nuclear Imaging

May 5, 2025 — GE HealthCare recently announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted 510(k) clearance ...

Time May 06, 2025
arrow
News | Mammography

April 29, 2025 — iCAD, a global provider of clinically proven AI-powered cancer detection solutions, has announced a ...

Time April 29, 2025
arrow
News | Mammography

April 24, 2025 — GE HealthCare will feature its latest advancements in diagnostic accuracy and patient-centered breast ...

Time April 24, 2025
arrow
Subscribe Now