MRI scans ‘could help predict breast cancer risk’

A new US study has demonstrated that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be a vital tool in predicting future breast cancer risk.

The research reviewed breast MR images from high-risk women 18 years or older with no history of breast cancer who were screened at their institution from January 2006 to December 2011.

They were looking for any associations between cancer risk and imaging features, including breast density and background parenchymal enhancement (BPE), a phenomenon in which areas of normal background breast tissue appear white, or enhanced, on the MR images.

It was revealed that women with elevated amounts of BPE on MRI were nine times more likely to have a breast cancer diagnosis during the study follow-up interval than those who exhibited no or minimal BPE.

Study co-author Dr Habib Rahbar, a breast imaging expert at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and assistant professor at the University of Washington, said: "MRI could be used in a broader group of women to determine who most needs supplemental screening based on their BPE levels. This is important as we move into an era of more personalised medicine."

This comes after a recent study from the University of Vienna indicated that MRI scans could be substantially more effective in detecting breast cancers than mammography and ultrasound.