MRI more effective at detecting recurrent breast cancer

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the journal Radiology, single-screening magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) better detected recurrent breast cancer in women who had undergone breast conserving therapy (BCT) and previously had negative mammography and ultrasonographic (US) findings.

Hye Mi Gweon, MD, of the department of radiology at the Seoul National University College of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues found that single-screening MRI detected 18.1 additional cancers per 1000 women with a history of BCT.

The team identified 607 women with a median age of 48 between 2008 and 2012. All women underwent BCT for breast cancer, had negative mammography and US findings, and underwent a subsequent MRI. Screening with MRI detected eleven additional cancers, eight of which were invasive and three were ductal carcinoma in situ.

According to multivariate analysis, women who benefited from subsequent MRI screening were younger than 50 years old at the time of initial diagnosis and if there was a 24-month interval between initial surgery to eradicate the cancer and MRI screening. The investigators suggest that women with a history of breast cancer who underwent BCT would be the most appropriate candidates for MRI screening due to the high detection of T1 invasive cancers.