Technetium-99m sestamibi imaging in the detection of axillary lymph node involvement in patients with breast cancer

The status of the axillary lymph nodes is the most important prognostic factor in breast cancer, and the findings of axillary node dissection remain the gold standard for the patients staging and prognosis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of Tc-99m sestamibi scintigraphy in the detection of axillary node involvement.

Forty-nine patients (age range: 32-72 years) with breast cancer were studied. Dynamic images (1-20 minutes post-injection of the radiopharmaceutical) followed by multiple planar views and tomographic images were performed. Final diagnosis was achieved by histology after surgery.

Metastatic axillary lymph node involvement was present in 21 patients: sensitivity was 81% (17/21) for tomographic and 61.9% (13/21) for planar images; specificity was 92.9% (26/28) and 96.4% (27/28), respectively.

Tc-99m sestamibi imaging is a promising noninvasive method to detect axillary node metastases in patients with breast cancer, tomography appears more sensitive than planar views.