ASBS: Breast-specific gamma imaging monitors breast cancer response

Breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) accurately monitors the response of breast cancers to neoadjuvant chemotherapy, according to a study presented last week at the American Society of Breast Surgeons annual meeting in Las Vegas.

The study, conducted by Christine B. Teal, MD, chief of breast surgery at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., and her team of researchers, included 12 patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy for locally advanced breast cancers retrospectively.

All patients had a BSGI before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Ultrasound and mammographic measurements were compared to pre-chemotherapy BSGI measurements, said Teal.

The study results showed that BSGI accurately reflected post-chemotherapy tumor size within 5 millimeters when compared to post-operative pathology specimens in all 12 patients.

“BSGI provides excellent specificity and sensitivity in determining initial tumor size as well as accurately reflects response to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy. This allows for more precise surgical planning prior to definitive surgical procedure in this population of women,” according to Teal.

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