Mobile gamma cameras in breast cancer care - a review

Currently, due to progress in detection and to extended screening, surgeons have to deal with increasing numbers of non-palpable lesions in breast cancer. These lesions can be treated by radio-guided surgery in the lumpectomy associated with sentinel lymph node (SLN) procedures. Thanks to advances in detector technology, mini gamma cameras are now available, that can perform real-time lymphoscintigraphy during surgery, or at bedside.

In this article, we review the clinical literature on these dedicated cameras used in breast cancer surgery. The goal is to show how these cameras are used in breast cancer treatment and in SLN biopsy and what kind of benefits they offer.

We conducted our search on MEDLINE and EMBASE databases. We performed a comprehensive review to identify clinical studies or cases using mobile gamma cameras in breast cancer surgery.

We collected 14 articles published between January 2000 and March 2012. We analysed the use of the mobile cameras and the obtained results.

Mobile gamma cameras seem to be useful imaging tools either used pre-operatively or during surgery. They assist surgeons with accurate localization of SLNs and/or radio-labelled tumours, and in verification that all radioactive nodes have been excised.