Molecular breast imaging may benefit women with dense breasts, suggests research

Screening women with dense breasts with both molecular breast imaging (MBI) and digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) increased overall invasive cancer detection while modestly increasing the recall rate compared with screening only with DBT, according to a new study published today in Radiology , a journal of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

“To our knowledge, this is the first multicenter, prospective evaluation of MBI as a supplement to DBT in women with dense breasts,” said lead author Carrie B. Hruska, Ph.D., professor of medical physics at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

An estimated 47% of women who undergo breast cancer screening have dense breasts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. DBT is an advanced form of mammography that ta