title: The role of 99mTc-tetrofosmin Pinhole-SPECT in breast cancer axillary lymph node staging.
abstract: The number of metastatic axillary nodes represents one of the most important prognostic factors in preoperative breast cancer patients. 99mTc-Tetrofosmin high resolution Pinhole (P)-SPECT was employed in 112 patients, 100 with breast cancer and 12 with benign mammary lesions, to ascertain axillary lymph node involvement. Axillary P-SPECT images were acquired utilizing specific software connected to a circular high resolution, single-head gamma camera equipped with a pinhole collimator with aperture size of 4.45 mm, rotating 180 degrees around the involved axilla. At the same time, patients also underwent conventional SPECT and planar acquisitions. Per-patient sensitivity and specificity were 100% and 93.6% for P-SPECT, 96.2% and 93.6% for SPECT and 56.6% and 100% for planar imaging, respectively. Moreover, P-SPECT detected more than 51% of lesions ascertained by histology, whereas SPECT and planar detected 32.6% and 20.3%, respectively. Only P-SPECT succeeded in identifying the exact number of metastatic axillary lesions in patients with multiple nodes; this procedure was able to correctly differentiate 88.67% of patients with 3 or less nodes from those with more than 3, thus giving important prognostic information. These data suggest 99mTc-Tetrofosmin P-SPECT is a reliable imaging method both for staging and prognostic purposes in breast cancer, and its routine use is recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, University of Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spanu
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dettori
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chiaramida
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cottu
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Porcu
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Solinas
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nuvoli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Madeddu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D018567:Breast Neoplasms, Male / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D009943:Organophosphorus Compounds; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; C078700:technetium tc-99m tetrofosmin