Two recently published PET studies reveal the ways in which molecular imaging can be used to treat difficult cases of breast cancer. The first deals with an imaging agent that targets estrogen receptors (ER) in ER-positive breast cancer patients with formerly inconclusive assessments, and the second highlights the ability of 18F-FDG to help predict the prognosis for patients undergoing chemotherapy for a very aggressive type of breast cancer. Both studies were published in the February issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
Concerns that surgical breast biopsies, as opposed to percutaneous core needle biopsies, were being overused may be unfounded as the true surgical breast biopsy rate is likely somewhere between 2 percent and 18 percent, which is close to the recommended rate, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
The Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, a national fundraiser for breast cancer research, has said it will halt all partnerships with Planned Parenthood, a move that will cut funding for breast cancer screenings and prevention.
With the exception of liver metastases, whole-body imaging of estrogen receptor (ER) expression with 18F-FES, an ER-specific PET tracer, can be a valuable additional diagnostic tool when standard work-up is inconclusive, particularly in breast cancer patients, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
The malignancy rate for MR-detected breast masses less than or equal to 5 mm has been shown to be greater than 20 percent, indicating that these small masses should be viewed with a high degree of suspicion when seen in staging breast MRI exams, according to a study published in the January issue of Academic Radiology.
An interim 18F-FDG PET/CT exam after two cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy was predictive of pathologic response and disease-free survival in patients with triple-negative breast cancer, an aggressive subtype of breast cancer, according to a prospective study published online Jan. 12 in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
The team at Johns Hopkins In-Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Center in Baltimore is using novel imaging tools to discover new early detection methods for cancers existing in cells, and study its prevention and elimination before spreading to other organs and tissues.
As a woman ages, her chances of being diagnosed with a lower-risk breast tumor increase, according to a study published in the December 2011 issue of Breast Cancer Research and Treatment. The study showed that for women over age 50, a substantial number of cancers detected by mammograms have good prognoses.
Molecular Imaging, a contract research organization (CRO) providing multi-modality preclinical in vivo imaging services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, has entered into a licensing agreement with Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston to access a number of luciferase-enabled cancer cell lines developed at Dana-Farber.
Four experts attempted to set straight the record on accelerated partial breast brachytherapy (APBI) after a Dec. 7 presentation by MD Anderson researchers at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, which concluded that APBI is associated with inferior effectiveness and increased toxicity compared with whole breast irradiation in older women. The researchers outlined numerous flaws ranging from the data source to study design to omitted information, during a teleconference on Dec. 13.
Women diagnosed with breast cancer are increasingly burdened by multiple imaging appointments prior to surgery, according to researchers from Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, who presented the findings Dec. 9 at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium.
An updated model of the Forrest report provided new kindling in the screening mammography firestorm by suggesting that breast cancer screening may cause more harm than good. The study, published Dec. 8 in British Medical Journal, focused on quality-adjusted life years and, unlike the original 1986 Forrest report, incorporated screening harms in the analysis.
Although breast MRI can be used for surgical planning after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, diagnostic accuracy is uneven and is better in more aggressive than in less aggressive cancers, according to a study published in this month's Radiology.
Yet another study has confirmed that screening mammography reduces breast cancer mortality. Women who participated in at least three screening mammograms had a 49 percent lower risk for breast cancer mortality, according to a large case-control study published online Dec. 6 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
CHICAGO—Errors in interpretation of ultrasound screening of breast cancer were similar in prevalence (21 percent of misses) to errors in mammographic and MRI interpretation, based on a retrospective review of the ACRIN 6666 trial, presented Nov. 27 at the 97th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
The National Institute of Cancer, a Mexican oncologic center, is the first in the country to offer positron emission mammography (PEM), which is a breast application of Naviscan's PET scanner that shows the location as well as the metabolic phase of a lesion.
More than half of women will receive at least one false-positive recall after 10 years of annual mammography screening, according to a study published Oct. 18 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The findings may fan the flames of the screening debate as an accompanying editorial suggested that the results support screening intervals of two years or more. However, educating women about the incidence of false positives may reduce anxiety, according to the lead author.
Written by Lisa Fratt
California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. has vetoed SB 791, which would have required mammography providers to notify women about their breast density and potential benefits of additional screening.
Over the next decade, the population of cancer survivors over 65 years of age will increase by approximately 42 percent, according to a report published in the October issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
The burden of breast cancer deaths has shifted to poor women, according to “Breast Cancer Statistics, 2011,” a report issued by the American Cancer Society (ACS). Poor women are less likely than non-poor women to undergo screening mammography, which may be a factor in the disparate death rates, according to the authors.
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