Clinical Trials

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of molecular breast imaging as an accurate way to assess the response of breast cancer tumors to chemotherapy or hormone therapy that is newly supplemental to the standard treatment.

We aim to determine if Molecular Breast Imaging (a new nuclear medicine technique developed at Mayo) can identify malignant breast lesions in women who have atypical ductal hyperplasia, atypical lobular hyperplasia, or lobular carcinoma in situ.

The purpose of this study is to gather qualitative information about patient comfort during MBI examinations. The primary aim is to assess patient comfort during MBI, relative to comfort during a mammogram. We also wish to identify factors that contribute to discomfort and patients’ willingness to have MBI in the future.

The primary objective of this study is to determine if exercise, fasting, or eating prior to the molecular breast imaging study will have an effect on the uptake of the tracer in the breast tissue.

The significance of this study is that it will be the first prospective trial to compare MBI, a relatively low-cost functional breast imaging technique, to DBT, the new standard anatomic breast cancer screening technique in women with dense breasts. This study is also the first to evaluate two consecutive annual MBI scans to assess change in advanced cancer presentation after introduction of a functional imaging technique. These data will inform individualized decisions on supplemental screening and determine if a functional technique that is relatively low in cost and complexity of interpretation can eliminate the reservoir of clinically important breast cancers ...

Increased mammographic density is recognized as an important risk factor for developing breast cancer, however, the underlying mechanism explaining this relationship is unclear. The investigators hypothesize that Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI) can more accurately distinguish dense tissue on mammography which is at high risk from dense tissue at low risk by indicating cellular activity in dense tissue as radiotracer uptake (functional density) in the breast. In this pilot study, the investigators want to compare the histological characteristics of breast tissue in patients with who have similar density on mammography but different levels of functional density on MBI.

The investigators hypothesize that knowledge of the functional behavior of areas of mammographic density will enable more specific identification of dense tissue at-risk for breast cancer, ultimately providing predictive information on an individual's risk of developing breast cancer.

In this research study, the investigators are testing a new type of breast camera, called Molecular Breast Imaging, to see if it can find tumors in the subject's breast.

The objective of this study is to determine if the diagnostic performance of a dedicated breast-specific positron emission mammography (PEM) system, is superior to that obtained with a conventional PET/CT scanner and capable of producing acceptable image quality at a low-radiation dose level.