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According to a study for the early detection of breast cancer, which included 434 high risk women for the detection of malignant breast lesions, undergoing three imaging modalities (3T MRI, sonography and mammography), will be presented at the American Roentgen Ray Society Annual Meeting on April 29, 2009.

Forum Topics

• In what way, specifically, will patient management change as a result of 3T MRI findings?
• How will 3T MRIs better evaluate the extent of breast cancers?

Results of the study showed high field strength (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) impressively detecting all malignant lesions, compared to 86% by sonography, and 82% by mammography.

"3T MRI depicted a significantly higher number of malignant tumours of the breast than mammography and sonography," commented Haitham Elsamaloty, MD, University of Toledo Medical Center, Toledo, Ohio, and lead author of the study.

The study detected lesions as small as 4 mm in size, but more notably, identified malignancies that were previously only confirmed by MRI guided biopsies following an MRI discovery.

Change in patient management in 18.2% of the cases was due to these crucial findings, a significant factor in appropriate therapy planning.

"Our study suggests an important role for 3T MRI in such high risk groups for an early diagnosis of breast cancer and better accuracy in evaluating the extent of disease," concluded Dr. Elsamaloty.