A new breast screening method “Rapid Breast MRI” may potentially save thousands of lives by detecting breast cancer four to six years earlier than mammography technology by reducing scan time by 70 percent to only 7 minutes, significantly reducing costs and enabling its use to screen women with dense breasts. Mammograms are the current standard for breast screening. Due to its costs, imaging with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used only for women at high risk for cancer (2% of the population).
This new “Rapid Breast MRI” protocol which allows screening with dense breast tissue is the original research by Dr. David A. Strahle, chairman of Regional Medical Imaging (RMI) in Flint. Dr. Strahle found that early detection creates major savings for both women and insurance companies when considering 10 categories of expense related to breast cancer.
Mammographic technology for women with dense breast tissue is simply not as effective as MRI in spotting cancer, Dr. Strahle noted. In addition, unlike tomosynthesis (3D mammography) or mammograms, MRIs do not use radiation (x-rays).
“Mammograms are like trying to see a thunderstorm through clouds without radar,” Strahle said, whose extensive background includes aviation and medicine. “MRI sees through dense tissue, allowing radiologists to spot virtually all suspicious tumors.”
Other takeaways of the “Rapid Breast MRI”:
- The protocol allows MRI screening on a regular basis of women with dense breast tissue.
- Research was conducted with 671 women over seven years. The peer-reviewed paper was published Jan. 30, 2017.
- The research includes an easier method for interpreting MRI examinations, lowering the false positive rate below any other breast screening method.
Source: PR Newswire
Cover image: Monkey Business Images/shutterstock.com
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