A Better Way of Detecting Breast Cancer

Recently, Mayo Clinic, one of the gold standards in the medical world, announced that Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) will be their preferred supplemental imaging technology, in addition to mammography, for women with dense breast tissue. In a recent interview, Dr. Michael O’Connor of Mayo Clinic, inventor of the MBI technology, discussed how that major decision came about and how impactful this technology will have in the imaging world. “This is the beginning of a new era for molecular imaging of the breast, and I think it’s a very exciting time for us,” he said.

MBI has excellent specificity, gives very few false positives, and has a low recall rate. Most impressively, it nearly quadruples detection rates of invasive breast cancers in women with dense breast tissue.

Mayo Clinic has been the pioneer of this technology. After ten years and two large screening trials, they have had the experience and benefit of working with the technology. They were comfortable “jumping in” and have embraced it fully. It will take a few more years before it disseminates across the country and into smaller clinics, but the progress thus far has been remarkable.

Additional Resources

Watch the full interview with Dr. Michael O’Connor here.

To read Mayo Clinic’s official press release, click here.

To listen to Dr. Deborah Rhodes of Mayo Clinic comment on the results of a major recent MBI study, click here.