Is the result of breast Tc-99m mibi scintigraphy a prognostic factor for survival in invasive breast cancer?

Abstract Background Breast scintigraphy with Tc-99m MIBI showed utility in diagnosing and monitoring response to neoadjuvant treatment. This work studies if there are differences in long-term survival in breast carcinomas depending on the result of Tc-99 MIBI scintigraphy and to analyze their relationship with other variables of prognostic value. Material and methods A prospective observational study on a series of cases of breast cancer in which scintigraphy with Tc-99m MIBI was carried out prior to its treatment, and which had a minimum follow-up of ten years. Clinical–epidemiological, histopathological and immunohistochemical variables were recorded. Bivariate and multivariate analysis were performed studying the result of Tc99m-MIBI scintigraphy. Differences in OS and DFS were studied using Kaplan Meier curves with the log-rank test between factors. Results The significant relationship was found between Tc-99m-MIBI positive result and palpable tumors (p = 0.0001), poorly differentiated (p = 0.003), with lymph node involvement (p = 0.038) and high cell proliferation (p = 0.007), although only the palpability and tumor size are related after multivariate analysis. Patients with Tc-99m MIBI positive tumors showed a worse OS (p = 0.043) and DFS (p = 0.026), independently of size and palpability of the lesion. Conclusion Tc-99m MIBI scintigraphy showed prognostic importance in invasive breast cancer, relating its positivity to reduced long-term survival.