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J B Cwikla

Publications and source records attributed to J B Cwikla.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

Can scintimammography with (99m)Tc-MIBI identify multifocal and multicentric primary breast cancer?

Scintimammography with (99m)Tc-MIBI has been shown to be an effective adjunct to imaging of the breast with mammography. Uptake of (99m)Tc-MIBI is particularly high in sites of non-calcified cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and as a consequence it may be possible to use this method of imaging in identifying multifocal or multicentric disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of preoperative scintimammography in the detection of multifocal and multicentric breast cancer and compare these results with mammography. A retrospective review was performed of 353 women imaged with (99m)Tc-MIBI as part of the clinical assessment of their suspected primary breast cancer. The results of the scintimammography and mammography were then compared with the final pathological diagnosis obtained after mastectomy in all patients. Histopathological assessments of breast tissue from mastectomy confirmed 40 women (12%) had multifocal (34) or multicentric (six) breast cancer. Scintimammography correctly identified 39 of these cancers and the multifocal or multicentric character of the cancer was identified in 22 (52%) of these patients. Anatomical imaging performed in all 40 patients including 25 with mammography alone, mammography and ultrasound in 11 cases and ultrasound alone in four patients. Anatomical imaging identified cancer to be present in 28 patients (70%) and the combination of mammography and ultrasound identified correctly that the cancer was multifocal or multicentric in eight patients (22%). In this study scintimammography was able to identify more cases of multifocal and multicentric cancer than mammography and/or ultrasound. In patients where pre-operative identification of multicentric or multifocal disease can alter treatment scintimammography may be a useful investigative tool.

Adult↗

Prediction of the usefulness of combined mammography and scintimammography in suspected primary breast cancer using ROC curves.

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of 99mTc-methoxyisobutylisonitrile scintimammography (SMM) and conventional mammography in patients presenting with suspected primary breast cancer. Receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was applied to determine if a combination of x-ray mammography (XMM) and SMM was more accurate than a single test alone. METHODS: The results of SMM, XMM, and a combination of both studies performed over a 3-y period on 374 suspicious lesions in 353 patients with no previous history of breast cancer were reviewed. Each scan report was reviewed and graded as follows: grade 1, definitely normal or benign; grade 2, probably normal or benign; grade 3, equivocal; grade 4, probably cancer; and grade 5, definitely cancer. The results were verified by pathologic examination of biopsy material obtained from each suspicious mass. ROC curves were generated from these results. RESULTS: There were 204 malignant breast tumors and 170 nonmalignant breast lesions. SMM diagnosed correctly 181 breast cancers and was true-negative in 122 benign breast lesions: sensitivity, 89%; specificity, 71%; positive predictive value (PPV), 79%; and negative predictive value (NPV), 84%. XMM diagnosed correctly 143 malignant tumors and was true-negative in 117 nonmalignant lesions. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV for XMM were 70%, 69%, 73%, and 66%, respectively. Using a combination of the two tests, the combined sensitivity was 93%, specificity was 72%, PPV was 80%, and NPV was 90%. Using the index of the area under the ROC curve obtained by the rating method showed that the combination of XMM and SMM was significantly more accurate than either of the individual tests if performed alone (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study shows that the combination of XMM and SMM produces more accurate results than either modality alone. Therefore, if there is doubt about the accuracy of XMM, SMM should be used as the second-line test in breast imaging.

Adult↗

Tc-99m MIBI in suspected recurrent breast cancer.

A prospective trial was performed to assess the accuracy of Tc-99m MIBI scintimammography in 63 women (mean age 65, range 33-85 years) with suspected recurrent breast cancer in the breast and/or loco-regional tissues. All patients had been diagnosed with breast cancer 1-23 years before the scintimammography. A total of 27 breasts had been removed by mastectomy so scintimammography was compared with mammography in the remaining 99 breasts. Pathological follow-up of patients confirmed 33 sites of recurrent disease within the breast, 26 (78%) were identified by scintimammography and 14 (42%) by mammography; 30 (90%) were positive on one test or the other. In addition Tc-99m MIBI scintimammography identified 10/16 (63%) of axillary lymph nodes with recurrent tumour and 4/6 sites of recurrent tumour present elsewhere. Tc-99m MIBI scintimammography is more accurate in identifying recurrent disease in the breast than mammography and can identify loco-regional recurrence outside of the breast.

Adult↗

Prone SPET scintimammography.

Prone single photon emission tomography (SPET) was performed in 24 patients with suspected primary or recurrent breast cancer to determine if this technique offers more accurate imaging than that obtained from planar scintimammography. All patients were imaged on a specially designed couch with two cushion inserts. The first insert was lined with lead and was used to perform prone lateral planar scintimammography 5 min after the injection of 740 MBq 99Tcm-MIBI. The second insert did not contain lead and was used to perform a prone SPET acquisition for 30 min immediately after planar imaging. The results of both studies were read independently and there was agreement between the two techniques in 23 cases (96%). All cases of cancer proven on histology were found on planar imaging, but a 4-mm ductal cancer was missed on prone SPET. This was thought to be due to activity from this medial cancer being obscured by the star artefact produced by back-projection reconstruction from activity in the heart. There were two false-positive studies with both techniques. However, prone SPET enabled better localization and characterization of breast cancers than planar imaging. Prone SPET imaging of the breast produces results similar to prone lateral imaging and may be used instead of planar imaging if a reduced total acquisition time is desirable. Care must be taken when reading scans in the presence of small tumours near the heart when back-projection reconstruction techniques are used.

Adult↗

Comparison of accuracy of scintimammography and X-ray mammography in the diagnosis of primary breast cancer in patients selected for surgical biopsy.

Mammography, whilst remaining the first line imaging investigation of suspected primary breast cancer, can be difficult to interpret in patients with fibrous or dense breasts. Radionuclide imaging of the breast (scintimammography) has been suggested as an additional test. The aim of this study was to perform prospectively a comparison of the two techniques in a population with suspected breast cancer. Seventy such patients, mean age 54 years (range 57 years, 28-85) with 74 suspicious breast lesions were studied. They were imaged 5-10 min after intravenous injection of 740 MBq of Tc-99m sestamibi. Prone lateral and anterior supine views with and without markers were performed. All patients had histological confirmation of the nature of the breast lesions by limited incisional biopsy or definitive wide local excision, or cytological confirmation on fine needle aspiration. All patients had X-ray mammography. There were 53 malignant breast tumours and 21 benign lesions. Scintimammography correctly diagnosed 47 breast cancers, and yielded true-negative results in 12 benign breast lesions. There were six cases of false-negative results and nine false-positive results. Four scans were reported as equivocal. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were 89%, 52%, 84% and 67%, respectively. X-ray mammography diagnosed correctly 37 malignant tumours, and in 12 benign lesions the results were true negatives. Ten studies were reported as equivocal. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV were 70%, 57%, 80% and 43%, respectively. The accuracy of Tc-99m sestamibi scintimammography was better than X-ray mammography though this was not significant (McNemar's test). Fewer equivocal results were obtained with scintimammography. Scintimammography may therefore have a role in the diagnosis of primary breast cancer when X-ray mammography is equivocal or unhelpful.

Adult↗

Use of 99Tcm-MIBI in the assessment of patients with suspected recurrent breast cancer.

A prospective trial was performed to assess the accuracy of 99Tcm-methoxyisobutyl isonitrile (99Tcm-MIBI) scintimammography and X-ray mammography in 18 patients (mean age 58 years, range 46-79 years) with suspected recurrent breast cancer in the breast and/or loco-regional tissues. All patients had been diagnosed to have breast cancer 1-23 years before scintimammography. Two patients had undergone mastectomy, so that a total of 34 breasts were studied with X-ray mammography and with prone-lateral and anterior scintimammography. Any abnormalities on X-ray mammograms and scintimammograms were noted, as was any additional local or nodal uptake of 99Tcm-MIBI. The nature of any lesion seen with either modality, or in which there was a clinical suspicion of recurrence, was confirmed by cytological or histological examination of tissue samples. There were nine breasts with recurrent cancer in eight patients. X-ray mammography identified six of these cancers. 99Tcm-MIBI scintimammography identified eight of nine recurrent breast cancers (the one cancer not seen was positive on X-ray mammography). In the 26 breasts without cancer, two were reported as having changes consistent with cancer and one was reported equivocal. There were three false-positive and one equivocal scintimammograms. The accuracy of 99Tcm-MIBI scintimammography within the breast (85%) was similar to X-ray mammography (82%). Axillary lymph node recurrence occurred in five patients, four of whom were positive with 99Tcm-MIBI. An additional patient had focal uptake of 99Tcm-MIBI at the site of recurrent cancer on the anterior chest wall. In conclusion, 99Tcm-MIBI scintimammography may provide useful complementary information in patients with suspected recurrence of cancer in the breast or loco-regional tissues.

Aged↗

The effect of chemotherapy on the uptake of technetium-99m sestamibi in breast cancer.

Technetium-99m sestamibi scintimammography has been used primarily in the diagnosis of breast cancer. It has also been suggested that this technique could be used to monitor response to chemotherapy and possibly to predict those patients in whom no response can be expected. An initial study was performed in nine patients with primary breast cancer. All patients underwent prone lateral and anterior 99mTc-sestamibi imaging at diagnosis and 4-7 months later, after they had received cytotoxic chemotherapy. The uptake of 99mTc-sestamibi in the breast was compared with that in normal surrounding breast tissue and this ratio was expressed as the target to background ratio. In all patients treated there was a reduction in uptake of 99mTc-sestamibi after treatment, such that whilst all the tumours could be seen before treatment, only three were visible following chemotherapy. There was a significant fall in the mean target to background ratio of the patients undergoing chemotherapy: the tumour to background ratio was 2.48 before chemotherapy and 1.40 after treatment (P<0.001, paired Student's t test). This fall in tumour activity was observed both in those patients in whom a clinical response was seen and in the two patients in whom the tumour enlarged despite chemotherapy. It appears that the reduced uptake of 99mTc-sestamibi seen after chemotherapy may be a non-specific change and therefore may not be predictive of the clinical response to treatment.

Adult↗

Scintigraphic imaging of breast cancer: a review.

Scintimammography is a recently verified technique that will expand the use of nuclear medicine to a new group of patients in whom scintigraphic imaging has not been widely used. If performed correctly, and in certain groups of patients, it delivers a sensitivity as high as X-ray mammography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in palpable tumours but with greater specificity. It is best used in patients in whom X-ray mammography, ultrasound and MRI prove non-diagnostic or unhelpful, particularly those women with dense breasts or who have had previous breast surgery. The mechanism of uptake of 99Tcm-MIBI in breast tissue is only partly understood and in itself may help in determining important aspects of tumour function, such as the response to cytotoxic chemotherapy. Other scintigraphic methods for imaging breast cancer may be able to look at other aspects of cancer function, for example blood supply, metabolic rate or the in vivo assessment of oestrogen or somatostatin receptor status. This in turn may be useful in planning treatment. Metastatic disease may best be monitored with 18F-FDG PET, which has a sensitivity greater than MRI but a similar specificity. Much furtner work will need to be done on the use of nuclear medicine in breast cancer, but the addition of unique functional information to the anatomical data from X-ray and MRI should benefit future patients' management.

Breast Neoplasms↗

Correlation between uptake of Tc-99m sestaMIBI and prognostic factors of breast cancer.

UNLABELLED: The purpose of this retrospective study was assessment of correlation between Tc-99m sestaMIBI uptake and some prognostic factors of breast cancer. The following prognostic factors have been included in this study: size of the tumour, age of the patients, axilla node involvement, oestrogen and progesterone receptor (ER, PR) status, grading system of Bloom-Richardson and Ki-67 antigen expression. METHODS: 79 patients were enrolled in this study, with 85 lesions confirmed as primary breast cancers. Mean age of patients was 53 years. Scintimammography (SMM) was performed after intravenous injection of 740MBq. At 5-10 min after injection standard planar images were obtained in prone lateral and anterior supine views. Assessment of correlation between known prognostic factors of breast cancer and uptake of MIBI (evaluated as a tumour to background ratio-TBR) was performed used non-parametric (Kendall-tau correlation) statistical analysis. RESULTS: There were 85 breast cancers (73 invasive ductal carcinomas, 11 DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) and 1 lobular carcinoma. There was positive correlation between TBR Tc-99m MIBI uptake and size of the tumour (t = 0.19, p = 0.01), presence of axilla node involvement (t = 0.2, p = 0.006) and also grade of the IDC tumours evaluated using Bloom-Richardson's criteria (t = 0.18, 0.03). There were negative correlation between TBR and presence of PR (t = -0.16, p = 0.02) and borderline negative correlation between TBR and age of patients (t = -0.137, p = 0.06) and also TBR and ER status (t = -0.135, p = 0.065). Patients who are younger and/or have PR or ER negative cancers have higher Tc-99m MIBI uptake. Patients who presented with high grade of malignancy (B-R) also have higher uptake of radiotracer. Also those with higher uptake of radiotracer often had axillary node involvement. This would suggest that more aggressive tumours have higher uptake of Tc-99m MIBI. Finally this study suggest correlation between in vivo uptake of MIBI and some of the known prognostic factors of breast cancer.

Breast Neoplasms↗

Uptake of Tc-99m MIBI related to tumour size and type.

The accuracy of Tc-99m MIBI scintimammography depends on the uptake in cancer cells being greater than surrounding normal tissue. The aim of this study was to determine which were the dominant factors affecting uptake of Tc-99m MIBI in breast cancer cells in vivo. The tumour to background ratio (TBR) was measured in 74 focal breast lumps occurring in 70 women, of whom 53 had breast cancer. In patients with breast cancer the TBR was compared in those under and over 45, those with tumours over and under 20 mm, those who had auxiliary disease, the histological type of the tumour and whether ductal on the Bloom Richardson scale. The only factor which appeared to have an influence on uptake of Tc-99m MIBI was the histological type of the tumour. Ductal carcinomas had a mean TBR of 2.07, significantly greater than either other types of breast cancer (TBR = 1.31) and benign tumours (TBR = 1.46). The histological type of tumour appears to be the dominant factor affecting uptake of Tc99m MIBI in vivo.

Adult↗