Breast MRI Clinical Applications

Clinical Applications for Breast MRI

As a diagnostic imaging tool, the Dedicated Breast MRI system from Aurora Imaging technology is ideally designed for a wide range of clinical indications in breast disease management, including:

Determine the Extent of Cancer:
Aurora Breast MRI imaging may be indicated to evaluate the extent of disease prior to treatment; determine the feasibility of breast conservation vs. mastectomy and the potential need for radiation, chemotherapy, or chest wall resection. Surgical planning has been modified in up to 30% of cases using Breast MRI pre-operatively. *

Detect Occult Cancer:
Aurora Breast MRI imaging may be indicated to detect occult primary breast cancer in women presenting with metastatic disease and no known primary tumor. Aurora Breast MRI imaging may also be indicated to detect occult disease in the contralateral breast or multifocal/multicentric disease in the ipsilateral breast.

Characterize Lesions:
Aurora Breast MRI imaging may be indicated to identify and characterize malignant vs. benign lesions in women with equivocal mammography and /or ultrasound findings and thereby reduce the number of biopsies resulting from false positive mammograms and/or ultrasound examinations. These attributes are especially important in women with impaired mammography due to dense breast tissue. The unique ability to detect and analyze the vascular enhancement pattern of breast tissue and nodules is what makes Breast MRI such a useful adjunct to Mammography.

Evaluate Patients with Positive Surgical Margins for Residual Cancer:
Aurora Breast MRI imaging performed soon after surgery may be indicated to determine the presence of significant residual disease in patients with positive surgical margins and thus aid in the determination of further surgery, either re-excision of margins or mastectomy. If used pre-operatively, as in Europe, Breast MRI can decrease re-operation rates.

Monitor Cancer Therapy:
Aurora Breast MRI imaging may be indicated to distinguish post-operative and /or post-radiation therapy scarring from recurrent cancer. Aurora Breast MRI imaging may also be indicated to evaluate chemotherapeutic effectiveness and tumor response, and the extent of residual disease in patients undergoing neo-adjuvant or induction chemotherapy and to monitor the effectiveness of chemo-preventive therapy such as Tamoxifen.

Exclude the Existence of Cancer in High Risk Women:
Aurora Breast MRI imaging may exclude the existence of, or identify cancer in women at increased risk for breast cancer based upon family history, genetic markers or high-risk histology. Breast MRI has a very high negative predictive value; i.e., a negative breast MRI significantly improves confidence of no occult invasive cancer.

Evaluate Implant Integrity and Detect Cancer in Women with Breast Augmentation:
Breast MRI imaging is the most reliable method for imaging breasts to determine implant rupture or leakage. As opposed to mammography and ultrasound, breast MRI imaging is no impaired by the presence of silicone injections or implant augmentation in the detection of cancer. Women with a history of liquid silicone injections can benefit from MRI screening. No x-ray irradiation of the breast or breast compression is necessary, providing the patient with less risk and greater comfort.*Preliminary unpublished data reported from the Faulkner-Sagoff Breast Imaging and Diagnosing Centre in Boston, 2002.
Note: MRI and ultrasound, or even mammography may not detect some in situ carcinomas. We currently consider in situ carcinomas to be primarily a mammographic diagnosis. If you have questions on other indications, please call The Breast Center of Northwest Arkansas (479) 442-6266.