Technology Trends

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening for breast cancer delivers consistent rates of cancer detection and fewer false-positive results over time, according to a new study.While MRI can be more effective than mammography at identifying suspicious areas of the breast, it is not always able to distinguish between cancerous and benign lesions, which the study says can result in additional testing and falsepositive results that may cause anxiety for patients, according to a press release about the study, published online and in April print edition of Radiology.A screening exam is considered to be false positive when its results recommend further testing or a biopsy of a suspicious finding, but no cancer is found.“MRI is an excellent screening tool for breast cancer, but the higher rate of false-positive results keeps some women from undergoing the exam,” said the study's coauthor Martha B. Mainiero, MD, an associate professor of diagnostic imaging at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in Providence, RI. “The goal of our study was to determine if the availability of prior magnetic resonance images for comparison reduces the rate of false positives associated with the initial MRI breast screening exam.”In the study, researchers reviewed reports from 650 consecutive MRI breast exams performed on women between September 2007 and December 2008 at Rhode Island Hospital. The women, who ranged in age from 25 to 81 years, were referred for MRI screenings because they were considered to be at high risk for breast cancer.Of the breast MRI results reviewed, 307 were the patient's first, or baseline, screening exams and 343 were annual or repeat screening MRI exams.In the baseline group, MRI identified two cancers for a cancer detection rate of 0.65 percent. In the repeat screening group, the cancer detection rate was nearly twice as high: Cancer was found in four patients, for a rate of 1.17 percent.Women undergoing a baseline exam were nearly four times more likely to be recommended for a follow-up MRI exam in six months to monitor suspicious findings (31 of 307 women, or 10.1 percent) than patients who had one or more prior MRI exams for comparison (9 of 343 women or 2.6 percent). The rate of false-positive results was 13 percent (39 of 299 patients) in the baseline exam group and 5.6 percent (19 of 341 patients) in the annual exam group.Nearly 10% of all cases of depression are so severe that the patients do not respond to any established treatment method, but researchers say that a “brain pacemaker” could help.According to a press release on the new technology, half of patients with the most severe depression treated in this manner see a significant improvement in mood, the release reads. In deep brain stimulation, physicians implant electrodes in the brain. Using an electrical pacemaker implanted under the patient's clavicle, physicians can influence the function of certain areas of the brain in a lasting manner.The method was originally developed for treating patients with Parkinson's disease in order to alleviate the typical movement problems. Physicians from the University of Bonn in Germany worked on the study with colleagues in the United States.Researchers say there are more than 80,000 Parkinson's patients worldwide who have a brain pacemaker.“There is nothing that argues against also using this method to help people with severe depression,” says Volker Coenen, MD, of the University of Bonn.