Breast Cancer Screening with MRI
Breast Cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed in Australian women.
Early detection and appropriate treatment can significantly improve breast cancer survival.
Mammography (Breast X-ray) is currently the standard screening tool for the early detection of breast cancer. The government’s national screening program invites women aged 50-74 to undergo mammograms every two years. Women aged 40-49 and those aged over 74 can also undergo mammograms, however they are not sent invitation letters.
In recent year some experts have voiced their concerns regarding the sensitivity and accuracy of Breast Cancer Screening with mammography (Breast X-ray) alone.
This latest study was published in one of the major medical journals – Lancet Oncology in June 2019 by S Saadatmand et al and looked at 1355 women allocated to either MRI group or Mammography group for Screening.
This multicenter, randomized trial compared the benefit of MRI versus mammography for breast cancer screening among patients with a familial risk of breast cancer.
MRI screening detected more breast cancers and detected breast cancer at an earlier stage than mammography.
MRI screening appears to detect breast cancer at an earlier stage compared with mammography, and this could potentially improve outcomes.
However, MRI may be associated with more false positives, particularly in women with a high breast density