Method Distinguishes Benign and Malignant Breast Tumors

by -- A. Agrawal, PhD
Updated: Dec 29th 2009

TUESDAY, Dec. 29 (HealthDay News) -- A new noninvasive spectroscopic method can accurately distinguish benign from malignant breast tumors based on metabolic differences, according to a study in the January issue of Radiology.

Shwayta Kukreti, Ph.D., and colleagues from the University of California in Irvine developed self-referencing differential spectroscopy for near-infrared (650 to 1000 nm) diffuse optical spectroscopic imaging and tested it in 17 patients with benign breast tumors, 22 patients with malignant breast tumors, and 21 control subjects.

The researchers found that the imaging produced unique endogenous spectral absorption fingerprints, called specific tumor components, that could distinguish tumors from normal breast tissue, and that a weighted wavelength analysis method could discriminate between benign and malignant tumors. Based on the 40 breast lesions analyzed (22 malignant and 18 benign), the method had a 91 percent sensitivity, 94 percent specificity, 95 percent positive predictive value, and 89 percent negative predictive value.

"The self-referencing differential spectroscopy method revealed localized tumor biomarkers specific to pathologic state," Kukreti and colleagues conclude. "The observation of pathologic state-specific spectral signatures provided a potentially significant method for differential diagnosis and monitoring response to therapy."

Abstract
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