title: Diagnostic value of 99mTc-bombesin scintigraphy for differentiation of malignant from benign breast lesions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of (99m)Tc-bombesin scintigraphy for differentiation of benign from malignant palpable breast lesions. (99m)Tc-Bombesin is a tracer with high affinity for gastrin-releasing peptide receptor, which is overexpressed on a variety of human tumors including breast carcinoma.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined 33 consecutive women who were referred to our center with suspicious palpable breast lesions but had no definitive diagnosis in other imaging procedures. A volume of 370-444 MBq of (99m)Tc-bombesin was injected and dynamic 1-min images were taken for 20 min immediately after injection in anterior view. Thereafter, two static images in anterior and prone-lateral views were taken for 5 min. Finally, single-photon emission computed tomography images were taken for each patient. Definitive diagnosis was based on biopsy and histopathological evaluation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The scan findings were positive in 19 patients and negative in 11 on visual assessment of the planar and single-photon emission computed tomography images. Pathologic examination confirmed breast carcinoma in 12 patients with positive scans and benign pathology for 18 patients. The overall sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values, and accuracy of this radiotracer for diagnosis of breast cancer were 100, 66.1, 100, 63, and 76%, respectively. Semiquantitative analysis improved the specificity of the visual assessment from 66 to 84%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that (99m)Tc-bombesin scintigraphy has a high sensitivity and negative predictive value for detecting malignant breast lesions, but the specificity and positive predictive value of this radiotracer for differentiation of malignant breast abnormalities from benign ones are relatively low.
authors.affiliation: aNuclear Medicine Research Center bMinimally Invasive and Endoscopic Surgery Research Center cDepartment of Radiology, Ghaem Hospital, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Farzaneh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shariati
authors.forename: Kamran
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aryana
authors.forename: Asiehsadat
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fattahi
authors.forename: Mohammad N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Forghani
authors.forename: Azita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azarian
authors.forename: Seyed R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Zakavi
authors.forename: Ramin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sadeghi
authors.forename: Narjes
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ayati
authors.forename: Keyvan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sadri
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012372:ROC Curve; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi