Busy as she is, Vicky Smith makes sure she gets her annual exams.
"Very good about checkups...Very date oriented, so i do keep up with all my checkups regularly."
Taking care of herself may have saved her life.
"The radiologist looked at my mammogram and said there's something there that was not there before."
She heard the words: breast cancer.
"I gasped, a million thoughts go through your mind," explained Smith.
After her cancer was diagnosed, it was another, new mammogram that helped doctor's determine Vicki's treatment. "PEM" or positron emmission mammography, gives doctors a better view of the cancer than an MRI.
Dr. Kathy Schilling of the Breast Care Center at the Boca Raton Community Hospital has one of only 30 "PEM" imaging systems in the United states. It is FDA approved.
"We're looking for the fullest extent of disease."
A breast MRI can be very helpful in revealing anything suspicious that shows up in a mammogram. But doctors say there have been a few problems...It suggests a significant number of false alarms that may not really be cancer, which can lead to unnecessary biopsies and treatment."
"In our studies with MRIs, we found that one-third of patients had extra disease that wasn't seen in an ultrasound, mammogram or physical exam."
"This patient has known-cancer at 2 sites in the right breast, here and here...and they are blue."
But this MRI shows other blue areas...and that leaves doctors with the question:
"I know this is cancer because it's been biopsied, what about everything else? I don't know what it is...This is where the false positives of MRI is so difficult to deal with.
This is the PEM image of the same cancer
"Only 2 areas..and it's very clearly seen."
That gives surgeons a clear picture of the cancer.
"It leads to fewer recurrences. Patients don't come back 2 or 3 years later with recurrences that were probably present at the intinitial diagnosis."
Vicki says "PEM" is one big reason she's been cancer free for 15 months.
"They were able to see my cancer and provide me with a plan."
A plan that will help more patients be successfully treated for this insidious disease.
"We are really curing these patients...it becomes part of their medical history and nothing more."
Because "PEM" has been so effective in pinpointing cancer, a new trial will be underway to determine if "PEM" should be used as a screening tool for women who have false positive readings in their breast cancer screenings.
