title: SPECT/CT imaging in breast cancer - current status and challenges.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The increasing incidence of breast cancer worldwide raises the importance of improving imaging techniques for disease stratification after early lesion detection. SPECT/CT imaging is now widely available but its diagnostic potential is not fully utilized for more specific purposes including breast cancer patient stratification.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A Pubmed search for both original and review articles related to the value of SPECT/CT in breast cancer patients and comparison to other diagnostic methods. 62 articles were found using the key words SPECT/CT, Fusion Image and Breast Cancer. Development of a new generation of SPECT/CT systems and their introduction into practice has changed the old diagnostic algorithm. The increasing importance of SPECT/CT in the detection of bone metastases is confirmed. The diagnostic accuracy of new SPECT/CT instruments in the diagnostics of bone metastases is nearly comparable to PET/CT scans. SPECT/CT is more widely available and costs less than PET. It is able not only to identify a sentinel lymph nodes in atypical localizations but also to detect sentinel lymph nodes non visualized on previous planar scans. SPECT/CT offers precise anatomic localization of sentinel lymph nodes, thereby facilitating surgery. Knowledge of precise sentinel lymph node localization can also be applied in radiotherapy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The role of hybrid SPECT/CT imaging in breast cancer patients is changing. It is a powerful modality for skeletal and nodal staging in breast cancer patients with important impact on therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Regional Hospital Pelhrimov, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Milan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Simanek
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, Palacky University Olomouc, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Koranda
mesh_terms: D059925:Anatomic Landmarks; D001859:Bone Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000556:secondary; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D064847:Multimodal Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D057285:Precision Medicine / Q000379:methods; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D011878:Radiotherapy / Q000379:methods; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy / Q000379:methods; D000072098:Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography Computed Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals
keywords: SPECT/CT; breast neoplasms; multimodal imaging; neoplasm metastasis; sentinel lymph node biopsy