Contrast-Enhanced Digital Mammography

Contrast-enhanced digital mammography has been proposed as a method for breast cancer detection and characterization. In this technique, an intravenous contrast agent is administered to increase the visibility of cancers on the mammographic image. Because breast cancers have been shown to enhance with contrast agents on both CT and MRI, it seems reasonable that contrast enhancement might work in mammography. Because the contrast resolution of mammography is less than that of CT or MRI, subtraction is used to increase the visibility of the enhancing cancer on the background of normal tissue. Two methods, temporal subtraction and dual-energy subtraction, have been proposed and demonstrated. Results from three pilot studies have been promising, with high sensitivity to cancer; however, much work remains before the technique becomes a viable clinical tool.