The Use of Technetium-99m Methoxyisobutylisonitrile (Tc99m-MIBI) Breast Scintigraphy for Early Detection of Breast Cancer

We evaluated the feasibility of Tc99m-MIBI scintigraphy as a method for early detection of breast cancer in 142 patients. In 101 consecutive patients there was a suspicious lesion on physical examination or on mammography. In 41 high risk patients the scintigraphy was performed only as a screening test. RESULTS: The results demonstrated that in 101 patients who underwent biopsies, there were positive scans in 48 patients (29 of them were true positive), and 53 negative scans (51 of them were true negative). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 94%, 73%, 60%, and 96% respectively. Two false-negative results were in lesions 0.6 and 0.7 cm. in size. Among 19 false positive results 5 were in patients with active mastitis. CONCLUSIONS: Tc99m-MIBI breast scintigraphy is a sensitive method for early detection of breast malignancies.