Study: MR Imaging Can Find Cancer Left After Lumpectomy

Some breast cancer patients who undergo a lumpectomy should then be considered for an magnetic resonance examination because MR is an accurate way to look for any disease left in the breast, according to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center researchers.

Reporting at the American Roentgen Ray Socilety annual meeting, Dr. Elizabeth Morris said that in one study, radiologists reviewed tumor speciments from 100 patients who had undergone a lumpectomy and found that the cancer had spread to or near the edge (margins) of the specimen.

When these 100 women then had an MR examination, radiologists found that 58 had disease left over after lumpectomy.

Overall, MR imaging identified 86 percent of residual disease, Morris said. she says.

A separate study of women with ductal carcinoma in situ produced similar results.

In the study, "MR imaging identified residual disease near the lumpectomy site in 18 of the 23 breasts," reported Dr. Jennifer Menell.

Nine of these women also had a mammogram, and MR identified residual disease in seven of these nine patients while mammography identified residual disease in only six.

"MR imaging provides us with a window to the breast that we haven't had before and maps out for us how extensive the disease really is," said Dr. Morris. "If tumor extent can be accurately gauged, appropriate treatment can be planned."

Other sources: American Roentgen Ray Society