Role of 99m Tc-sestamibi Scintimammography in Predicting Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Locally Advanced Breast Cancer: A Prospective Study

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is the first line of management for locally advanced breast cancer (LABC). However, chemoresistance is prevalent in 18%-50% of the cases. One of the important and most studied causes of chemoresistance is P-glycoprotein (Pgp) expression. Tc-sestamibi scintimammography may serve as a useful imaging tool to predict Pgp expression, thereby response to NACT. The aim was to study the role of Tc-sestamibi scintimammography in predicting response to NACT in treatment-naive, biopsy-proven LABC patients. Tc-sestamibi scintimammography (early and delayed images) was performed on a total of 34 patients. Eight patients were lost to follow-up, and only 26 (25 females and 1 male) patients were available for final analysis, with a mean age of 49.7 ± 10.7 years. Tc-sestamibi washout rate (WOR) (%) and T/B buildup were calculated. Pre-NACT and Post-NACT tumor sizes were measured clinically, and a % decrease in tumor size was calculated. The WOR and T/B buildup values were correlated with the % decrease in tumor size. We found a statistically significant negative correlation between WOR (%) and % decrease in tumor size and a statistically significant positive correlation between T/B buildup and % decrease in tumor size. Furthermore, we found a positive correlation between the early T/B ratio and the Ki-67 index ( = 0.22). Early categorization of responders and nonresponders can help in optimal therapy planning. Tc-sestamibi scintimammography can serve as an imaging marker for Pgp expression, thereby predicting clinical response to NACT in LABC patients. Further studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to consolidate the above findings.