New Breast Cancer Technology: Molecular Breast Imaging (Part 2)

Dr. Eric Winer, from Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, commented for the American Society of Clinical Oncology by saying that 10 and 15 percent of all breast cancers cannot be detected by using mammograms. Winer also told reporters, "More and more we may be getting away from one-size-fits-all in terms of screening approaches, and instead think about screening approaches that are directed more to an individual women based on her risk and on the characteristics of her breasts."

There has also been and increase in the use of costly MRI exams on some women that have more dense breast tissue or that have a high risk for getting breast cancer. Hruska said that the MBI might be the lower-cost alternative. She has estimated that it would cost around $500 to perform the scan, and expressed hope that its availability would increase over the next year.

The MBI technology uses special cameras that were developed by GE Medical Systems and privately head Gamma Medica-Ideas, stated Hruska. This study was funded in part by Bristol-Myers Squibb, which provided the radioactive agent for the scans. This radioactive agent typically exits the body within one day.

Hruska says that the MBI as it is currently be used presents a very low risk of radiation if a woman has it a few times in her lifetime, but the researchers must lower the radiation if the technology begins to be put to use as a screening test as frequent as one or two years apart.