Vanderbilt docs 1st to use new PET imaging technique during breast cancer surgery
Vanderbilt physicians are among the first in the world to successfully utilize an emerging intraoperative imaging technique to guide breast cancer surgery.
The technique involves the use of a radioactive agent and a small portable PET/CT scanner. Once surgeons remove tumors, they use the scanner to determine whether the tissue is malignant, negating the need for additional pathology and allowing surgeons to assess margins in real-time. This sort of analysis usually takes days to complete, but with this new technique, surgeons can make critical decisions in minutes.
Surgeons completed the first successful intraoperative PET/CT technique in September. Led by Michael Topf, MD, associate professor of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery at Vanderbilt Health, that surgery was of the head/neck area. This latest success, led by Denise Garcia, MD, assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Surgical Oncology and Endocrine Surgery, involved the removal of a malignant breast tumor, highlighting the technique’s capabilities beyond the head and neck.
“This application of intraoperative PET-CT is proof that countless patients can benefit from the expansion of this novel imaging methodology,” said Garcia. “Our team is proud to apply it to a type of tumor that has not yet been imaged for the purposes of assessing margin status. As our institution expands treatment methodologies to more types of cancer, we can cure more patients and give them peace of mind that their surgery has been completed with precision.”
An added benefit is that the method also requires a much smaller dose of FDG—around just 20% of the radiation a patient would be exposed to during a whole-body CT.
Researchers at Vandy are continuing to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the technique against traditional surgical protocols for additional clinical scenarios.
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In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She began covering the medical imaging industry for Innovate Healthcare in 2021.