by
Lisa Chamoff, Contributing Reporter | July 10, 2016
From the July 2016 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
MBI uses 6 to 8 millicuries, about four times the dose from a digital mammogram and twice the dose of tomosynthesis and 2D mammography together, according to Shermis. For perspective, however, Shermis says the dose used is below background radiation levels and the benefits far exceed screening breast ultrasound. The newer technology of MBI also provides a much lower dose than the old breast specific gamma imaging (BSGI) examination of years ago, he says.
Mayo Clinic researchers are currently working to bring the dose down further and Gamma Medica is working on software and camera enhancements that would make it even lower, says Philip Croxford, the company’s president and CEO. “It’s a valuable new modality,” Croxford says. “It’s not for everyone, but it has enormous benefit when catching cancer.” Concerns about radiation dose still remain for some clinicians. “Manufacturers have done a lot to bring the dose down,” says Monticciolo of the ACR’s Commission on Breast Imaging. “The problem with nuclear medicine is that you’re giving the dose to the whole body. When you’re talking about using it as a screening tool, you can’t give that dose year after year. I think the dosage is the main limiting factor.”
Jochelson, of Memorial Sloan Kettering, agrees. “While nuclear breast imaging is able to detect cancers not seen on mammography, they find fewer cancers than MRI and unfortunately expose patients to more radiation than the other breast imaging tests,” Jochelson says. “Work is being done to lower the dose of radiation, but until that is complete, this type of imaging should not be done for yearly screening.”
Shermis says that while concerns about radiation dose persist, the newer levels need to be understood by referring physicians and patients and weighed against the importance of detecting cancers earlier. “We try to minimize dose in an effort to produce concrete benefits,” Shermis says. “Everything is a risk/benefit analysis and the vast majority of our patients understand the decision.”
Back to HCB News
