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BREAST MRI-MAMMOGRAPHY STUDY

There’s good news tonight for women at high risk for breast cancer. Researchers say using breast MRI along with mammography is highly accurate in detecting tumors.

Not only does this mean cancers can be picked up more reliably, but also, women who might choose to get a preventative mastectomy or get their ovaries removed now have the option to watch and wait with confidence.

Researchers say using breast MRI along with mammography is highly accurate in detecting breast cancer tumors.

Not only does this mean cancers can be picked up more reliably, but also, women who might choose to get a preventative mastectomy or get their ovaries removed now have the option to watch and wait with confidence.

At age 53, Susan Davis is--or at least, has been--in an uneasy situation. Her mom had breast cancer at age 48, and had ovarian cancer recently as well; the two are linked. “That made us look back at her family history and she had several aunts who had died of breast cancer,” says Susan.

So, knowing she’s at high risk, on top of her doctor visits, she gets breast ultrasounds and mammograms regularly. Still, there are no guarantees. “You always worry that something will be missed,” claims Susan.

Now, there may be an answer to Susan’s concerns, and the concerns of the thousands of women like her at high risk for breast cancer. The latest research in the journal The Lancet shows that breast MRI--when used along with mammography-- is highly accurate in detecting the presence of cancer.

Typically, women at high risk get tested younger, but because these women are young, they often have denser breasts, which affect the ability of mammography to detect disease.

So in this research, high risk women, aged 35 to 49 years, were offered annual MRI and X-ray mammography for between two and seven years.

The study found that breast MRI is nearly twice as accurate as plain mammograms in terms of detecting breast cancer in women at a high genetic risk for the disease. But when the two studies are combined, the accuracy is greatly increased. When mammography and MRI were combined, 94% of tumors were picked up in the women.

Dr. Julia Smith, Director of the New York University Breast Cancer Screening and Prevention Program, says, “I’d say it’s very important because it confirms the smaller studies that have come before and gives us a way to screen women at high risk and catching their cancers.”

And, it gives women a new option. “Until the MRI it was difficult to tell women something that would help them prevent breast cancer other than prophylactic surgery removing the breasts both breasts, prophylactically, preventatively,” says Dr. Smith. Now, many experts believe a large proportion of at-risk women can watch and wait, and not get their breasts and ovaries removed.

Susan says, “Now I’m really thinking this will be the year I’m getting an MRI.”

Dr. Smith says it’s hard to estimate what percentage of at risk women are not getting appropriately screened--there are geographic differences. One thing is for certain, many doctors are not ordering the tests appropriately, and there are many women who should be getting tested but aren’t.

You should discuss with your doctor what your breast cancer risk is.

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