New MRI Technique Could Reduce Number of Breast Biopsies

A new study finds that a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique that doesn’t utilize ionizing radiation or contrast agent could cut down on the number of unnecessary breast biopsies.

A team including researchers from the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, Germany analyzed an abbreviated MR breast imaging protocol in a study of 50 women with suspicious screening mammograms and indication for biopsy—24 of whom had a breast carcinoma. The protocol uses only 2 short sequences; one to show the lesion’s shape and appearance, and a second to demonstrate the lesion’s biophysiological properties with diffusion-weighted imaging with background suppression magnetic resonance mammography (DWIBC-MRM). The investigators compared DWIBS-MRM to an abbreviated contrast-enhanced MRI and full diagnostic breast MR protocol in all 50 women.
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According to the authors, DWIBS-MRM achieved comparable accuracy to that of the full diagnostic and abbreviated contrast-enhanced MRI protocols, and yielded a negative predictive value of 92%. Only pure microcalcification related ductal carcinoma in-situ (DCIS) without solid tumor was not detected by any of the techniques, the researchers noted.

Sebastian Bickelhaupt, MD, radiologist at the German Cancer Research Center and lead author of the study, emphasizes that the research is in its early stages, and that “DWIBS-MCM is not intended as a standalone screening modality, but as an adjunct to X-ray mammography and tomosynthesis in the clarification process of breast cancer screening.”

And, while the results are promising, “the degree of evidence is currently not sufficient to recommend the method be implemented into the screening into a general setting,” adds Bickelhaupt, “which [also] applies for primary care practitioners.”

—Mark McGraw

Reference:

Bickelhaupt S, Laun F, et al. Fast and Noninvasive Characterization of Suspicious Lesions Detected at Breast Cancer X-ray Screening: Capability of Diffusion-weighted MR Imaging with MIPs. Radiology. 2015.