At the time when cancer is diagnosed in one breast, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can detect cancer in the other breast that has been missed by mammography and clinical examination, which is the current practice standard.
These findings come from a study involving 969 women, and MRI detected cancer in 30 of the women, giving an additional diagnostic yield of 3.1%. The results are reported in the March 29 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
"Our study shows that MRI can improve the detection of cancer in the contralateral breast when added to a thorough breast examination and mammographic evaluation at the time of the initial diagnosis of cancer," write the authors. Led by Constance D. Lehman, MD, PhD, from the University of Washington in Seattle, the researchers represent the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) Trial 6667 Investigators Group, a co-operative group sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
"The current cost of MRI precludes its widespread use in general population, but this imaging tool appears to increase the detection of cancer in women at increased risk, such as women with a recent diagnosis of breast cancer," the authors comment.
"One in ten women diagnosed with cancer in one breast will develop the disease in the opposite breast. Having a better technique to find these cancers as early as possible will increase the chances of successful treatment," the National Institutes of Health director Elias Zerhouni, MD, stated in a press release.
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