Preoperative MRI as a Screening Tool for Diagnosing Contralateral Breast Cancer

The long-term impact of MRI screening impacts overall survival for patients

Compared to the incidence of breast cancer in general, women with breast cancer are twice as likely to develop contralateral breast cancer. This is the result of increasing instances of the disease, improved treatment options, and expanding life expectancy. 

Because delayed detection of contralateral breast cancer can result in the second round of treatment, a patient should undergo screening of the contralateral breast at the time of initial diagnosis in one breast. Screening is typically done via a combination of physical examination and mammography. However, this approach risks letting cancers go undetected, particularly in dense breasts, which tend to have a low sensitivity to mammography.

One option to fill this gap is preoperative MRI, which can be used to better assess tumor size and to detect other potential tumors in the same breast and in the contralateral breast.