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The study shows that although there is sufficient evidence that MRI is a beneficial screening tool in women with a high risk of developing breast cancer, prospective data demonstrating the benefits of MRI in the evaluation of newly diagnosed patients are lacking.

For the study, a multidisciplinary team including radiologist, surgeons, radiation oncologists, and medical oncologist reviewed and evaluated the records of 577 patients diagnosed with breast cancer, 130 of whom had MRIs prior to treatment.

The study authors found that MRI scans in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer increased from 14% in 2004 to 27% in 2006. Most notably, researchers observed that patients who received an MRI were significantly more likely to undergo mastectomy as the initial surgery compared to breast-conserving therapy (BCT).

Furthermore, women who received an MRI experienced an average delay of 22.4 days from the initial symptom or abnormal imaging study to receiving treatment/evaluation.

“Our study does not support the routine use of MRI to evaluate breast cancer, yet we found that more and more women with newly diagnosed breast cancer are getting these scans,” said Dr Bleicher. “Although MRI can be of benefit in the detection of cancer because of its sensitivity, it has a well-documented false-positive rate that may be misleading women to choose mastectomies when instead they could have breast conserving therapy.”

Source: ACS

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