MBI – A NEW STANDARD OF CARE
FOR
SUPPLEMENTAL BREAST CANCER SCREENING

Important Recent Updates Related to Supplemental Breast Cancer Screening and Molecular Breast Imaging (MBI)

The US FDA issued a new breast cancer mandate including federal dense-breast notification with a deadline for compliance set for September 2024.

Bipartisan-supported legislation (HR3086, or the “Find It Early Act”) was introduced to the 118th Session of the US Congress. This Act will require payors to cover supplemental screening costs for women with dense breasts.

Updated guidance was issued by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) which has removed DBT and US, and explicitly included MBI as supplemental screening methods.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) and, jointly, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) have published practice parameters for MBI.

The Find It Early Act has been notably championed in public by renowned journalist Katie Couric, as well as DenseBreast-Info.org Executive Director, JoAnn Pushkin, and many other breast cancer advocacy groups, including the SNMMI.

A BIRADS lexicon is available for MBI and the SNMMI is in the process of putting together an Appropriate Use Criteria expert recommendation for the many uses of MBI.

The ACR and NCCN guidelines are relied upon for most, if not all, federal and insurance policy mandates. NCCN guidelines are specifically written into the legislation as the guiding document for application of the law.

The explicit inclusion of MBI in the NCCN guidelines is transformative for those who would like to use MBI for supplemental screening.