High Accuracy For Sestamibi Diagnostic

DuPont Merck's technetium-99m sestamibi, a diagnostic currently approved for myocardial perfusion imaging under the tradename Cardiolite, was able to identify cancers in more than 90% of patients with breast cancer, according to Iraj Khalkhali from the University of California, presenting at the Radiological Society of North America annual meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

The trial involved 148 patients who were injected with the agent and then had breast images taken at five minutes and one hour with a scintillation camera. The technique produced 11 false positives and four false negatives.

Based on the results, DuPont Merck has initiated a multicenter, 600-patient study in breast cancer which will be used to support a New Drug Application if the results are positive. Enrollment for the study is expected to be completed next April. The company said that there are no plans at present to evaluate the technology in other types of cancer.