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Women with a personal history were also less likely to be recalled for additional testing (9.3% versus 15%, P=0.008), DeMartini said during a press briefing at the RSNA-2010 meeting.

Women who've had breast cancer may benefit from an annual MRI in addition to mammography, researchers said here.

With this regimen, researchers at a single center found twice as many cancers in these women as they found in those with a genetic or family history, although the difference wasn't significant, according to Wendy DeMartini, MD, of the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.

Women with a personal history were also less likely to be recalled for additional testing (9.3% versus 15%, P=0.008), DeMartini said during a press briefing at the Radiological Society of North America meeting ( RSNA 2010 ).

They were also less likely to have a biopsy for a false positive finding, as positive predictive values were higher in the personal history group (35.7% versus 12.2%, P=0.009).

"Women who fall into this category [a personal history of breast cancer] seem to be at greater risk," DeMartini said. "These are women who've had their cancer younger, they've had more invasive cancers, or have denser breasts."

Currently, an MRI in addition to mammography isn't recommended for this group of women, although the American Cancer Society's 2007 guidelines do recommend the regimen for women with BRCA mutations or a strong family history.

The guidelines say there's insufficient evidence to recommend for or against MRI in women who've already had breast cancer. There are other barriers as well, including cost, the need for contrast agents, and the potential for false positives.

To measure the performance of screening breast MRI in women with a personal cancer history, the researchers conducted a retrospective review of 1,026 initial screening breast MRI exams done between January 2004 and June 2009.

A total of 327 had a genetic or family history of the disease and 646 had a personal history of treated breast cancer.

The researchers found that annual MRI in addition to mammography detected more cancers in those with a personal history than in those who had a genetic or family history, but the difference wasn't significant (3.1% versus 1.5%, P=0.14).

DeMartini added that a significant portion of cancers in those with a personal history were detected five years or more after treatment, implying that the screening may be needed long-term. A total of just five cancers occurred in under two years, two cancers in the two-to-five-year range, and 11 cancers after five years.

She said additional studies are needed to determine which groups would benefit most from dual screening, as well as prospective studies to provide stronger evidence of potential benefits.

"We hope that such results help in revising recommendations for this group of women," DeMartini said.

Gary Whitman, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, said that some centers are screening women with a personal history of breast cancer, "but we're not doing it across the board."

Source: RSNA