Molecular breast imaging (MBI) for ILC

KatjaNL

Hello, being in between lumpectomies on the left breast, and having false positive lesion in the right breast, I want to take as much as possible to 100% informed decision on how ILC is spread in my breast. Maybe I'd better go for BMX at once and don't bother with this anxiety on getting negative margins on lumpectomy... Have recently learned about MBI as the most advanced method of diagnostic. Would love to hear some opinion an experiences!

Annette_U

doubt science and technology are there yet! I believe a mastectomy or double is the way to go if you are a stage 2b or 3a. Just try to avoid full breast radiation. Get the best chemo protocol you can. Maybe in 5-10 years there will be well proven new treatments for primAry diagnosis. Don't take chances if you are between the 35-60 age range.

KatjaNL

Thanks, Annette, for the answer! I'm 42 and stage 2A. I have done additional research and found the BSGI is available where I live, would love to check that out, looks like it's almost same as MBI. I think sometimes mastectomy is an overkill...

Annette_U

karma: my tumor was over 6cm and surgery after chemo left 4cm and stray cancer cells in all quads of my left breast. That surprised my Onc and surgeon. Right was clean. Those cells don't need to be connected, why I believe lumpectomy can be a risky route. If I had ductal and a stage 2a after neoadjuvent then I would have considered lumpectomy.

MTwoman

Katja, it looks as if the MBI technology is promising, but does have draw backs (way more radiation than mammo) which may or may not outweigh the benefits for specific individuals. (http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/types/mbi).

BSGI also involves a very high radiation dose (http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/725298)

Just looking at both the pros and cons.

KatjaNL

True, still I signed up for BSGI test for this Friday. Will keep you posted how it went!

KatjaNL

Hi, all, I had MBI/BSGI screening today. Decided to do it in between the operations (I had lumpectomy in August but didn't achieve negative margins, so doing re-excision on 3rd October). I read a lot that this type of screening eliminates false-positive results from MRI and overall gives a better picture of ILC. Waiting for the results on Monday hoping to get more visibility.