Screening Women at High Risk of Breast Cancer by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

July 13, 2007 | Evidence Reports

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This report examines the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to screen high-risk women for breast cancer, either alone or in combination with x-ray mammography. Other uses of MRI are outside the scope of this report. Other methods of screening, treating, and managing high-risk women are outside the scope of this report, as are any other issues, outcomes, patient categories, or questions about MRI or breast cancer not explicitly mentioned in the key questions. The focus of this report does not imply that other uses of MRI or other methods of screening for breast cancer are not important or valid.

Magnetic resonance images are created by recording the signals that are generated after radio-frequency excitation of nuclear particles in tissue exposed to a strong magnetic field. A contrast agent, injected into the bloodstream, accumulates in the vascular system and can aid in locating tumors by highlighting areas containing a dense blood-vessel network.

In the general population, the incidence of breast cancer is about 0.2% per annum at age 50 and 0.05% per annum at age 35, with a cumulative lifetime risk of breast cancer of approximately 13%. Some women inherit a predisposition to developing breast cancer (high-risk women). Among these women, the incidence of breast cancer is 3% per annum at age 50 and 1% at age 35, with a cumulative lifetime risk of breast cancer of approximately 80%. Thus, high-risk women are at increased risk of...

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