HealthManagement, Volume 7 - Issue 4, 2007
For women at high risk of breast cancer, use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plus xray mammography for screening will detect more breast cancers than mammography alone, says ECRI Institute in a new technology assessment report. But the number of false positives - indicating a problem where none exists - will rise significantly also. The report aimed to determine whether the combination of MRI and mammography was more accurate than mammography alone in finding breast cancer.
The TARGET™ emerging technology evidence report is published by ECRI Institute, by Wendy Bruening, a senior research analyst. Her analysis of the evidence showed that MRI detected more cases of cancer than x-ray mammography. These findings, in fact, are consistent with the current guidelines of leading cancer organisations, such as the American Cancer Institute and the American Society of Breast Disease, that recommend screening that includes MRI, xray mammography and ultrasound for patients at high risk of breast cancer.
