REVIEW OF IMAGING TECHNIQUES FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF BREAST-CANCER - A NEW ROLE OF PRONE SCINTIMAMMOGRAPHY USING TC-99M SESTAMIBI

Imaging techniques currently used for the diagnosis of breast cancer a re reviewed and compared. Besides mammography, magnetic resonance imag ing, positron emission tomography, and thallium-201 scintimammography, a new role of technetium-99m sestamibi scintimammography is discussed . It is concluded that while mammography remains the procedure of choi ce in screening asymptomatic women for breast cancer, other imaging me thods play an important role in detecting malignancies in symptomatic patients. Tc-99m-sestamibi scintimammography has high sensitivity and improves the specificity of conventional mammography for the detection of breast cancer; with this technique, prone imaging is preferable to supine imaging. Tc-99m-sestamibi scintimammography thus deserves furt her study as a screening technique.