Breast MRI
MRI (magnet resonance imaging) is one of the most sensitive methods used in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Its benefits are greatest before needle biopsy. An MRI provides detailed information about the size of the tumour and its local spread that is valuable when planning surgery.
In a Finnish study, breast MRI revealed that breast cancer was more advanced than previously assumed in 27% of patients. Without a preoperative MRI, surgery would have failed to remove all cancerous tissue in the breast in nearly one woman in five. And without the MRI, nearly one in ten women would have required repeat surgery.
Breast MRI is likely to be particularly appropriate for young women considered to have a hereditary risk of breast cancer. The examination does not involve exposure to radiation, and lesion identification is not hampered by dense mammary gland tissue as in mammography.
Contrast media highlight both benign and malignant lesions, and a definite differential diagnosis is only possible in lesions exceeding 5 mm in size. If a suspicious lesion is found, a biopsy sample should therefore be taken for pathological evaluation, perhaps using MRI guidance.
In a Finnish study, breast MRI revealed that breast cancer was more advanced than previously assumed in 27% of patients. Without a preoperative MRI, surgery would have failed to remove all cancerous tissue in the breast in nearly one woman in five. And without the MRI, nearly one in ten women would have required repeat surgery.
Breast MRI is likely to be particularly appropriate for young women considered to have a hereditary risk of breast cancer. The examination does not involve exposure to radiation, and lesion identification is not hampered by dense mammary gland tissue as in mammography.
Contrast media highlight both benign and malignant lesions, and a definite differential diagnosis is only possible in lesions exceeding 5 mm in size. If a suspicious lesion is found, a biopsy sample should therefore be taken for pathological evaluation, perhaps using MRI guidance.