Study: PET Imaging May Produce Too Many False Negatives for Breast Cancer

Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging may produce an unacceptably high percentage of false negatives for use in the diagnosis of breast cancer, according to researchers at the Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Technology Evaluation Center.

Officials from the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), who commissioned the BCBS study, are prepared to advise a Medicare coverage advisory panel that the prevalence of false negatives with PET imaging may be too high to determine the need for a breast biopsy.

The risk of a false-negative result is approximately 12 percent for patients with a 50 percent chance of having a malignancy and 29 percent for patients with a 75 percent chance of a malignancy, according to the study.

Currently, Medicare covers PET imaging for diagnosis of lung, colorectal, and skin cancer but not breast cancer. Under Medicare regulations, PET imaging won't be covered unless the results may assist in avoiding an invasive diagnostic procedure.

Other sources: Blue Cross Blue Shield, Reuters