Pre-operative MRI may identify additional breast cancer sites for better management

USA: Additional sites of cancer were identified by preoperative MRI in 11.2% of women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), according to a recent study. The results, published in the European Journal of Radiology, suggests that the use of MRI in these women could improve surgical planning and outcomes.

DCIS constitutes 20% of breast cancer and it usually appears as calcifications on mammography. MRI can find both calcified and noncalcified DCIS as breast MRI has a higher sensitivity than mammography. So, MRI is being used more and more as a preoperative tool in women with invasive breast cancer.

Leslie R. Lamb, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA, and colleagues conducted the study to determine if pre-operative MRI is useful for identifying additional disease that would impact surgical management in women with DCIS.

For the purpose, the researchers conducted a retrospective review of consecutive women with calcifications at mammography yielding DCIS at core biopsy from 2007-2016 who subsequently underwent MRI examinations. Patient characteristics, imaging findings, and pathology outcomes were collected from the medical records. Standard statistical tests were used to compare the patients who underwent MRI examinations (MRI group) and those who did not (no MRI group).