MRI Urged for Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer

March 31st, 2007

For women with very dense breasts or a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer, MRI can yield much greater detail than mammography. MRI is so sensitive that it can reveal many types of suspicious growths in the breast. For this reason, there may be more false-positive findings leading to some unnecessary biopsies and additional scans. But for women at high risk for the disease, MRI can find tumors when they are most treatable.

Breast MRI requires special equipment, software and trained radiologists, and the expense can be 10 times the cost of mammography. In addition, breast MRI may not be available outside large cities.

Women at high risk are defined as having at least a 20 to 25% chance of developing breast cancer over their lifetime. Most U.S. women have about a 9% lifetime risk. Those who inherited defective BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes – a condition involved in only 10 percent of breast cancers – have a lifetime risk ranging from 36 to 85% of getting the disease. Especially at risk are those whose mothers, sisters or daughters carry those mutations, even if the woman herself has not been tested.

Using MRI for breast scans is especially useful for women who have been diagnosed with cancer in one breast and who need to know the status of the other breast. This sensitive technology can find tiny tumors that mammograms have missed. If an early cancer is detected in the other breast, both can be treated at the same time. Studies have shown that 10% of women with cancer in one breast over time will also develop it in the second breast.

MRI scans are most useful in younger women with cancer diagnosed in one breast and those with dense tissue that mammograms do not clearly image. Older, post-menopausal women with early tumors and clear mammograms are less likely to need MRI imaging.

Breast MRI can cost between $1,000 and $2,000. It may not always be covered by medical insurance. Figuring out just who needs MRI scans in addition to mammography can be difficult and much will depend on having a knowledgeable referring physician. A simple risk calculator is available online at http://www.cancer.gov/bcrisktool/. Genetic counseling can also be valuable in determining a woman’s level of risk.

Sources:  New York Times ; MSNBC

 

Entry Filed under: Breast Cancer,Breast Cancer,CANCER