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Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) has been getting a lot of deserved attention lately. In a recent Mayo Clinic study, MBI detected three times as many cancers in participants and MBI did not increase the number of false-positive results, when compared with mammography.

In a molecular breast imaging (MBI) procedure, patients are injected with a short-lived radioactive agent (radio tracer) that is absorbed by breast tissue. This agent is tracked with a special camera that can distinguish healthy tissue from breast cancer tumors because cancer cells absorb more of the radioactive agent than do the healthy cells. As a result, MBI generates an image of how a tumor behaves, when compared with normal tissue.

The advantages of MBI are especially apparent for women who have dense breast tissue and those at high risk for breast cancer, where a mammogram might not be sensitive enough to reveal the difference in appearance between normal breast tissue and a tumor and often need more advanced breast-cancer screening like what MBI can offer.

Other highly sensitive screening methods, such as Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), demonstrates equal sensitivity in the detection of malignant and high-risk breast lesions, while MBI reduces the rate of indeterminate findings by 50%.The only drawback to breast MRI is its cost—significantly more than for mammography and nearly five times that of MBI.

With all that MBI has to offer and its desire to potentially be the screening method of choice, MBI is not there yet, mainly due to high radiation dosages for annual screening. MBI is mainly considered a detection to assist in what mammogram screenings provides.  Currently, MBI researchers are looking at ways to lower levels of radiation while maintaining the accuracy of molecular breast imaging.