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MRI Detects Cancers in the Opposite Breast of Women Newly Diagnosed with Breast Cancer

National Cancer Institute press release: “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans of women who were diagnosed with cancer in one breast detected over 90 percent of cancers in the other breast that were missed by mammography and clinical breast exam at initial diagnosis, according to a new study. Given the established rates of mammography and clinical breast exams for detecting cancer in the opposite, or contralateral breast, adding an MRI scan to the diagnostic evaluation effectively doubled the number of cancers immediately found in these women. The American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) study, supported by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), appears in the March 29, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.”
Related documents and links:

  • Lehman CD, Gatsonis C, Kuhl CK, Hendrick RE, Pisano ED, Hanna L, Peacock S, Smazal SF, Maki DD, Julian TB, DePeri ER, Bluemke DA, Schnall MD, for the American College of Radiology Imaging Network Trial 6667 Investigators Group. MRI Evaluation of the Contralateral Breast in Women Recently Diagnosed with Breast Cancer. NEJM. Vol. 356, No.13. March 29, 2007.
  • Q&A on MRIs for contralateral breast cancer.
  • Study information can be found at http://cancer.gov/clinicaltrials/ACRIN-6667
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