Routine Use of MRI Scans to Evaluate Breast Cancer Challenged by New Research

The study, presented at the 2008 ASCO (American Society of Clinical Oncology) Breast Cancer Symposium, held in Washington, DC, USA, in September 2008, also revealed that in spite of the lack of evidence of their benefit, the routine use of MRI scans in women newly diagnosed increased considerably between 2004 and 2005, and again in 2006.

"We have yet to see any evidence that MRI improves outcomes when used routinely to evaluate breast cancer, and yet more and more women are getting these scans with almost no discernable pattern,” said Richard J. Bleicher, M.D., F.A.C.S., a specialist in breast cancer surgery at the Fox Chase Cancer Center (Philadelphia, PA, USA). "For most women, an MRI scan prior to treatment is unnecessary. MRI can be of benefit because it's more sensitive, but with the high number of false positives and costs associated with the test, more studies are needed to determine whether MRI can improve outcomes in women with breast cancer.”

Dr. Bleicher and his colleagues reviewed the records of 577 breast cancer patients seen in a multidisciplinary breast clinic where they were assessed by a radiologist, a pathologist, and a surgical, radiation, and medical oncologist. Of these patients, 130 had MRI scans prior to treatment. "Those who received an MRI had a three-week delay in the start of their treatment,” said Dr. Bleicher. "In addition to the treatment delay, we're concerned that the well-documented false-positive rate with MRIs may be leading--or misleading--women into choosing mastectomies.”

According to Dr. Bleicher, many of the women would have been candidates for a lesser procedure known as a lumpectomy. "There are a few reasons why we may be seeing higher mastectomy rates when MRIs are performed. An MRI scan is very sensitive, leading to a high number of false-positive findings. Rather than having a biopsy to see if those findings are real, women and their doctors may choose mastectomy out of an abundance of caution. Other studies have demonstrated that this often represents over-treatment because many of the mastectomies are later proven by pathology to have been unnecessary.”

The study also demonstrated that younger women were more likely to have an MRI scan. "In our analysis, that trend didn't correspond with various breast cancer risk factors, such as a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, nor with the characteristics of their disease,” explained Dr. Bleicher.

Another study conclusion included the failure of MRI scans to help surgeons decrease positive margins during surgery, another theorized benefit of MRI. "MRI is a valuable tool in some women, but without evidence that routine pretreatment MRI improves a woman's outcome, its disadvantages suggest that it should not be a routine part of patient evaluation for treatment,” said Dr. Bleicher. "Greater efforts to define MRI's limitations and use are needed.”

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