Use of single-photon emission computed tomography combined with computed tomography for breast cancer diagnosis

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of single-photon emission computed tomography combined with computed tomography (SPECT-CT) in the diagnosis of breast cancer (BC). Materials and methods. We performed 44 SPECT-CT examinations in 40 women with malignant breast neoplasms. Study Results. The obtained data enabled us to calculate the characteristics of SPECT-CT in the evaluation of the primary tumor. The sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy of the method were 88.1 %, 78.3 %, and 88.0 %, respectively. When the method was used to detect nodal and distant metastases, these characteristics were 87.3 %, 76.8 %, 86.9 % and 82.6 %, 73.1 %, 81.4 %, respectively. Conclusion. SPECT-CT is one of the most accurate methods to assess the primary tumor, lymph node involvement and distant metastases in BC.