How BSGI Works
Working on a cellular level, BSGI helps differentiate cancer from other structures or benign tissue in the breast. BSGI can assist in detecting cancers at very early stages and according to recent studies has the potential to significantly reduce the number of surgical biopsies that result in negative findings for thousands of women annually. Dr. Deutch explains “The injected Technesium radioisotope tags mitochondria cellular structures. Mitochondria are involved in cellular energy generation; they are densely packed in cancer cells, which are rapidly dividing cells requiring energy. They are not numerous in normal breast cells or cells in benign breast tumors.”
BSGI Provides New Clarity
Unlike mammography, BSGI is not affected by tissue density. If further diagnostic evaluation is necessary, BSGI can help determine if an area of concern is cancerous or not. BSGI technology is especially useful for patients who have dense breasts, scar tissue, implants, or palpable lesions that cannot be detected using mammography or ultrasound.
BSGI Offers High Specificity
According to a recent study, BSGI has comparable sensitivity, but superior specificity when compared to MRI. Sensitivity refers to the ability of an imaging technique to detect the presence of disease. Specificity refers to the technique's ability to detect that disease is actually not present. Through multiple clinical studies, BSGI with the Dilon 6800̉ demonstrates a high sensitivity for identifying early stage cancers as small as 1 mm according to one study, and consistently records a specificity of approximately 90 percent – significantly helping to differentiate between benign and malignant lesions. BSGI is an alternative to breast MRI both for diagnostic workup and high risk screening in patients who have
- 1. claustrophobia
- 2. pacemakers
- 3. metal clips/pins precluding MRI
- 4. multiple indeterminate findings on MRI, to help reduce number of negative biopsies.
