Hackensack Meridian Health Offers Innovative Technique for Imaging Breast Cancer Metastases Fueled by Estrogen

Hackensack University Medical Center became the first hospital in the Hackensack Meridian Health hospital network to perform PET scans using the new Cerianna tracer to track breast cancer metastases in patients whose tumors are fueled by estrogen. The test is now also available at Hackensack Meridian Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair, New Jersey. The technology boosts the ability of doctors to gauge the extent of a patient’s breast cancer spread, monitor the response to treatment, and choose the most effective therapies.

Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning has long been used in cancer care. It works by visualizing how cancer cells consume glucose (sugar), enabling physicians not only to view a patient’s internal anatomy but to image cancer cell activity as well. Cerianna (fluoroestradiol F18) takes that technology a step further by pinpointing the location of breast cancer cells throughout the body which contain receptors (proteins) on their surfaces for estrogen.

About 80% of people with breast cancer have such “estrogen receptor (ER)-positive” tumors. They are often treated with medications that interfere with the ability of estrogen to bind to breast cancer cells or which inhibit estrogen production. But sometimes cancers find a way to continue to grow and spread throughout the body despite these therapies, and other treatment approaches are needed.

“Cerianna is the first imaging agent that allows us to specifically visualize ER-positive breast cancer cells, sparing patients from invasive biopsies. People in New Jersey can now get Cerianna PET scanning close to their homes,” explained Jesse William, Chief Technologist of Nuclear Medicine and PET/CT at Hackensack University Medical Center. “Doctors can use it to see how well a patient is responding to therapy and modify the treatment, if needed, to choose one that is more effective.”

Cerianna is indicated for patients with metastatic breast cancer who have confirmed or suspected ER-positive lesions. The experience of a patient undergoing PET scanning with Cerianna is similar to conventional PET scanning. Like other tracers, Cerianna is given through an intravenous (by vein) injection.

For more information or to refer a patient to Hackensack Meridian Health, call 1-844-HMH-WELL.