3T breast MRI detects early cancer missed by mammo, sonography
3T MRI can detect a significant number of lesions not found on mammography and sonography exams, according to a study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.
Haitham Elsamaloty, MD, and colleagues from the University of Toledo Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio, sought to assess the sensitivity and specificity of 3T MRI compared with those of mammography and sonography in the evaluation of breast cancer and to evaluate the results in light of previously published data obtained with 1T and 1.5T systems.
The study included 434 women who underwent mammography, sonography and 3T MRI for the detection of malignant breast lesions from 2006-2007--all the women were at high risk. Sensitivity, specificity and predictive values were calculated, and statistics were analyzed with the chi-square test.
The sensitivities of MRI, mammography, and sonography in the detection of malignancy were 100, 81.8, and 86.4, and the specificities were 93.9, 99, and 98.1 percent, respectively.
The specificity of MRI increased from 92.8 percent to 94.5 percent over the course of the study. Compared with mammography and sonography, MRI depicted a significantly higher number of malignant tumors of the breast. There was no significant difference between mammography and sonography.
"Our study detected 'early' breast cancer (lesions as small as 4 mm) in size and also identified malignant lesions that were only detected by MRI and confirmed by MRI guided biopsy. These crucial findings led to a significant change in patient management in 18.2 percent of the cases in our study," said Elsamaloty, lead author of the study.
"Our study suggests an important role for 3T MRI in such high risk groups for an early diagnosis of breast cancer and better accuracy in evaluating the extent of disease-a crucial factor in appropriate therapy planning. High field strength (3T) MRI systems are becoming increasingly available in the clinical setting and more of them are being used for the evaluation of breast malignancy. 3T MRI is an important addition to mammography and sonography," he said.
Haitham Elsamaloty, MD, and colleagues from the University of Toledo Medical Center in Toledo, Ohio, sought to assess the sensitivity and specificity of 3T MRI compared with those of mammography and sonography in the evaluation of breast cancer and to evaluate the results in light of previously published data obtained with 1T and 1.5T systems.
The study included 434 women who underwent mammography, sonography and 3T MRI for the detection of malignant breast lesions from 2006-2007--all the women were at high risk. Sensitivity, specificity and predictive values were calculated, and statistics were analyzed with the chi-square test.
The sensitivities of MRI, mammography, and sonography in the detection of malignancy were 100, 81.8, and 86.4, and the specificities were 93.9, 99, and 98.1 percent, respectively.
The specificity of MRI increased from 92.8 percent to 94.5 percent over the course of the study. Compared with mammography and sonography, MRI depicted a significantly higher number of malignant tumors of the breast. There was no significant difference between mammography and sonography.
"Our study detected 'early' breast cancer (lesions as small as 4 mm) in size and also identified malignant lesions that were only detected by MRI and confirmed by MRI guided biopsy. These crucial findings led to a significant change in patient management in 18.2 percent of the cases in our study," said Elsamaloty, lead author of the study.
"Our study suggests an important role for 3T MRI in such high risk groups for an early diagnosis of breast cancer and better accuracy in evaluating the extent of disease-a crucial factor in appropriate therapy planning. High field strength (3T) MRI systems are becoming increasingly available in the clinical setting and more of them are being used for the evaluation of breast malignancy. 3T MRI is an important addition to mammography and sonography," he said.