BREAST Imaging

MRI is recommended as a screening test in addition to the mammogram for certain women at high risk for breast cancer. However, MRI should not be performed as a screening test by itself because it can miss some cancers that can be detected in a mammogram.

MRI is not recommended for women without a high risk for breast cancer. Although it can find some cancers that not seen on a mammogram especially if the breast parenchyma is very dense, it’s also more likely to find something that turns out not to be cancer (called a false positive). These findings also have to be followed up on to rule out breast cancer, leading to a higher number of other tests and biopsies.

MRI is also helpful to detect residual tumor or even tumor recurrence after resection of a part of the breast (lumpectomy) in patients with breast cancer.

For women that had a breast augmentation with silicone implants MRI is the prime staging tool for detecting breast cancer as well as to evaluate the integrity of the implants.