New Study on Breast MRIs: The Takeaways

According to a recent study, published in the American Journal of Roentgenology, preoperative breast MRIs can spell good things for women about to undergo breast surgery.  

What do you need to know from this study?  

The study explored the need for re-excision for women undergoing breast conserving surgery, comparing rates between women who had undergone breast MRI to those who had not. Those who had undergone pre-operative MRI had lower need for immediate additional surgery or re-excision.  

Re-excision is used to achieve satisfactory margins in women undergoing lumpectomy to insure all of the cancer is removed. Not having to undergo additional surgery is good news! Every trip to the operating room is stressful, even under the “best” of circumstances. Avoiding additional surgeries is always a plus for your emotional well-being and may influence eventual cosmetic results. However, the pre-op breast MRI did not significantly change long-term outcome in this initial study of early stage breast cancers.  

This study highlights one of the ways preoperative breast MRI can make a difference for patients facing a breast cancer diagnosis. Further studies are underway helping us to understand which breast cancer patients benefit most from pre-operative breast MRI.  

As ever, we wish you your best possible health!

Originally published 6/17/14 on mammographykc.com.