Background: Breast MRI has excellent sensitivity, but is very expensive and suffers from low specificity. Additional benign biopsies are prompted by MRI in 24-40% of patients. Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) is a new nuclear medicine technique developed at Mayo. Preliminary MBI results indicate a sensitivity of \~88% for the detection of tumors \< 10 mm. The cost of an MBI procedure is expected to be a factor of 5 less than an MRI examination.
Hypothesis: MBI has a comparable sensitivity to MRI at a significantly lower cost.
Study Design: A total of 120 patients will be studied. All patients will have been scheduled for bilateral breast MRI at Mayo Clinic Rochester for a clinical concern, problem solving, or abnormal mammogram and/or ultrasound study. All patients will undergo MBI within 3 weeks of the MRI examination.
Potential Outcomes: This study will provide valuable information on the sensitivity of MBI relative to MRI, and to determine if this new technique can be eventually developed as an alternative to MRI for problem solving.
