ACS recommends MRI for women at high risk for breast cancer
Certain women with an especially high risk of developing breast cancer should get magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans along with their yearly mammogram, according to a new American Cancer Society guideline. The two tests together give doctors a better chance of finding breast cancer early in these women, when it is easier to treat and the chance of survival is greatest.
"These guidelines are a critical step to help define who should be screened using MRI in addition to mammography, a question of significant importance as we discover women at very high risk of breast cancer can be diagnosed much earlier when combining the two technologies rather than using mammography alone," said Christy Russell, MD, chair of the ACS Breast Cancer Advisory Group and co-author of the new guideline.
MRI scans are more sensitive than mammograms, but they are also more likely to show spots in the breast that may or may not be cancer. Often there is no way of knowing whether or not these spots are cancerous short of a follow-up biopsy or some other invasive procedure. That is why the test is not recommended for women with an average risk of breast cancer, the guideline says.
For women at average risk, ACS recommends getting annual mammograms and breast exams by a physician, beginning at age 40. Most high-risk women should begin getting MRIs and mammograms at age 30, the new guideline says, unless they and their doctor think it's better to begin at a different age.
The new guideline is published in the latest issue of the ACS journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. It recommends MRI screening in addition to mammograms for women who meet at least one of the following conditions:
Although the ACS guidelines find screening MRIs of uncertain value for breast cancer survivors, a newly published study shows the scans can be useful for finding tumors in the opposite (contralateral) breast of women newly diagnosed with the disease.
As many as 10 percent of women with breast cancer develop a new tumor in the opposite breast, even though nothing is found when they are checked with mammograms and physical exams at the time of their original diagnosis. Finding these cancers earlier could help women make treatment decisions (some women with cancer in just one breast opt to have both breasts removed as a precaution), and might spare them from extra rounds of surgery and chemotherapy later.
Researchers from the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle studied 969 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients to see if MRIs could find contralateral cancers that mammograms and physical exams missed. The scans found 30 early-stage tumors the other tests could not detect, and missed only three.
The results appear in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was released to coincide with the publication of the new ACS guidelines for MRI screening in high-risk women.
"These guidelines are a critical step to help define who should be screened using MRI in addition to mammography, a question of significant importance as we discover women at very high risk of breast cancer can be diagnosed much earlier when combining the two technologies rather than using mammography alone," said Christy Russell, MD, chair of the ACS Breast Cancer Advisory Group and co-author of the new guideline.
MRI scans are more sensitive than mammograms, but they are also more likely to show spots in the breast that may or may not be cancer. Often there is no way of knowing whether or not these spots are cancerous short of a follow-up biopsy or some other invasive procedure. That is why the test is not recommended for women with an average risk of breast cancer, the guideline says.
For women at average risk, ACS recommends getting annual mammograms and breast exams by a physician, beginning at age 40. Most high-risk women should begin getting MRIs and mammograms at age 30, the new guideline says, unless they and their doctor think it's better to begin at a different age.
The new guideline is published in the latest issue of the ACS journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. It recommends MRI screening in addition to mammograms for women who meet at least one of the following conditions:
- They have a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation;
- They have a first-degree relative (parent, sibling, child) with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation, even if they have yet to be tested themselves;
- Their lifetime risk of breast cancer has been scored at 20-25 percent or greater, based on one of several accepted risk assessment tools that look at family history and other factors;
- They had radiation to the chest between the ages of 10 and 30; and
- They have Li-Fraumeni syndrome, Cowden syndrome, or Bannayan-Riley-Ruvalcaba syndrome, or may have one of these syndromes based on a history in a first-degree relative.
- Have a 15-20 percent lifetime risk of breast cancer, based on one of several accepted risk assessment tools that look at family history and other factors;
- Have lobular carcinoma in situ (LCIS) or atypical lobular hyperplasia (ALH)
- have atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH);
- Have very dense breasts or unevenly dense breasts (when viewed on a mammogram); and
- Have already had breast cancer, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
Although the ACS guidelines find screening MRIs of uncertain value for breast cancer survivors, a newly published study shows the scans can be useful for finding tumors in the opposite (contralateral) breast of women newly diagnosed with the disease.
As many as 10 percent of women with breast cancer develop a new tumor in the opposite breast, even though nothing is found when they are checked with mammograms and physical exams at the time of their original diagnosis. Finding these cancers earlier could help women make treatment decisions (some women with cancer in just one breast opt to have both breasts removed as a precaution), and might spare them from extra rounds of surgery and chemotherapy later.
Researchers from the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle studied 969 newly diagnosed breast cancer patients to see if MRIs could find contralateral cancers that mammograms and physical exams missed. The scans found 30 early-stage tumors the other tests could not detect, and missed only three.
The results appear in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study was released to coincide with the publication of the new ACS guidelines for MRI screening in high-risk women.