Radiopharmaceuticals for SPECT Cancer Detection

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the efficacy of single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with {199}Tl and {99}mTc-MIBI in the detection of breast, laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers. A total of 220 patients were included into the study: 120 patients with breast lesions (100 patients with breast cancer and 20 patients with benign breast tumors) and 100 patients with laryngeal/hypopharyngeal diseases (80 patients with laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer and 20 patients with benign laryngeal/hypopharyngeal lesions). No abnormal {199}Tl uptake was seen in all patients with benign breast and laryngeal lesions, indicating a 100% specificity of {199}Tl SPECT. In the breast cancer patients, the increased {199}Tl uptake in the breast was visualized in 94.8% patients, {99m}Tc-MIBI-in 93.4% patients. The increased {199}Tl uptake in axillary lymph nodes was detected in 60% patients, and {99m}Tc-MIBI-in 93.1% patients. In patients with laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer, the sensitivity of SPECT with {199}Tl and {99m}Tc-MIBI was 95%. The {199}Tl SPECT sensitivity in identification of regional lymph node metastases in the patients with laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer was 75% and the {99m}Tc-MIBI SPECT sensitivity was 17%. The data obtained showed that SPECT with {199}Tl and {99m}Tc-MIBI can be used as one of the additional imaging methods in detection of tumors.