MRI Is No Longer The First Choice in Case of Breast Cancer

By Irene Collins
08:46, September 9th 2008
32 votes
Vote this story
MRI Is No Longer The First Choice in Case of Breast Cancer

Apparently the use of breast MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans to evaluate cancer after it had previously been diagnosed is not that good after all. Women who receive an MRI after a new diagnosis of breast cancer delay the actual start of treatment and are also more likely to end up with a mastectomy, as opposed to breast-conserving surgery.

A study on approximately 600 breast cancer patients showed that MRI increased the chances ratio for mastectomy, Richard J. Bleicher, M.D., of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, reported at the 2008 Breast Cancer Symposium.

"Breast MRI is used unpredictably and does not avoid positive margins or improve the rate of conversion from mastectomy to breast-conserving therapy," said Dr. Bleicher. "Without evidence that MRI decreases local recurrence after breast-conserving therapy, it should not be a routine part of patient evaluation for breast-conserving therapy."

Getting back to the investigated patients, 130 had MRIs before surgery to remove their tumors, and 27.7 percent of these had a mastectomy. In the non-MRI group, 19.5 percent had a mastectomy. Their conclusion was that women who had got an MRI were 80 percent more likely to get a mastectomy. Bleicher also said that many of the women would have been candidates for a lesser procedure known as a lumpectomy.

Another research conclusion among others included the failure of MRIs to help surgeons decrease positive margins during surgery.

This study was supported by a U.S. Public Health Service grant and by an appropriation from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.



© 2007 - 2009 - eFluxMedia
dotclear

Other News in

If You Are Unemployed Having a Health Insurance Becomes a Luxury

If You Are Unemployed Having a Health Insurance Becomes a Luxury

The unemployed Americans have much to lose when it comes to health insurance. Families USA, the national organization for health care consumers, released Friday its state-by state comparisons of...

Merk’s Gardasil Further Delayed

Merk has developed a vaccine which is supposed to prevent cervical-cancer in women, but the use of the vaccine will be most likely approved for adult women in 2010. The vaccine Gardasil is currently...

COBRA Insurance Largely Unaffordable

COBRA Insurance Largely Unaffordable

Health insurance has a become a big issue as more and more people are laid off due to the financial crisis, their options being either seeking new individual health insurance or using the COBRA plan,...

California Supreme Court Bans Doctors' Billing

California Supreme Court Bans Doctors' Billing

The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that emergency room doctors who think a patient's HMO has underpaid them can't bill the patient for the difference and must seek whatever redress they...

Alzheimer’s Sufferers Taking Antipsychotics At Risk Of Death

Alzheimer’s Sufferers Taking Antipsychotics At Risk Of Death

  Thousands of Alzheimer’s sufferers being prescribed antipsychotic-medication are at risk of death, according to a study being reported in The Lancet Neurology.   For the...

dotclear
Latest videos in Health
Plastic Bags Help to Save...
Nuclear knuckles
Restoring the pee-h balance
Bird flu alert in Hong Kong
Ireland in pork product alert

dotclear
Health You are here: Health
» Science   » Health   
E-mail To A Friend Print RSS Text size: Decrease font size Increase font size
dotclear
dotclear
dotclear
Most Popular in Health
Study Says Bird Flu Could Be Resistant To DrugsStudy Says Bird Flu Could Be Resistant To Drugs

» read full story
dotclear

Interested In This Topic?

News Alert will keep you informed. Find out more.
dotclear
Photos Gallery
dotclear
Today's Latest News
Patrick Swayze Is Determined to Keep on FightingPatrick Swayze Is Determined to Keep on Fighting

» read full story
dotclear