Comparison between 99mTc-methoxyisobutyl isonitrile and 99mTc-methylenediphosphonate scintimammography for detection of breast carcinoma

Objective: The goal of the study was to assess the values of scintimammography with Tc-99m-methoxyisobutyl isonitrile (Tc-99m-MIBI) and Tc-99m-methylenediphosphonate (Tc-99m-MDP) in detecting breast cancer. Methods: A total of 35 women with clinical findings of suspicious breast lesions were studied with both Tc-99m-MIBI and Tc-99m-MDP scintimammography. All patients underwent surgery within 1 week, and the results of the histopathological diagnosis were obtained. Results: Eighteen of 35 abnormalities of the breast were pathologically confirmed as primary breast cancer and 17 as benign lesions. In this group of patients, the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of Tc-99m-MIBI scintimammography were 77.8, 88.2 and 82.9%, respectively, while those of Tc-99m-MDP scintimammography were 72.2, 88.2 and 80.8%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the results of Tc-99m-MIBI and Tc-99m-MDP scintimammography, Conclusion: This study demonstrated a high diagnostic accuracy of both Tc-99m-MIBI and Tc-99m-MDP scintimammography in detecting breast cancer. Both radiopharmaceuticals can be used as an adjunct method for the noninvasive assessment of breast cancer prior to surgery. However, Tc-99m-MDP is less expensive and more readily available than Tc-99m-MIBI. Copyright (C) 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel.