The role of magnetic resonance imaging in early detection of recurrent breast cancer

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this work was the evaluation of new advances of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosis of recurrent breast cancer after conservative surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. IntroductionBreast conservation surgery followed by breast radiotherapy and chemotherapy produces changes on both physical examination and on post-treatment breast imaging. Distinguishing these normal treatment-related findings from breast cancer recurrence in the original lumpectomy site or elsewhere in the breast (new primary tumors) is challenging.Our prospective study is done on fifty female patients who had undergone breast-conserving therapy at least 6months since the end of radiation therapy. All cases were suspected for either recurrence or post-operative complications by clinical examination in conjunction with mammography and/or US. Confirmation of different lesions was achieved by fine needle aspiration biopsy, core or excisional biopsy. All patients were examined by dynamic contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI). If one of imaging modalities suspected recurrence, all of the imaging modalities were performed.From our study we concluded that MRI is useful examination that can provide very valuable information in patient with suspected recurrence. It is a technique that offers not only information on lesion cross sectional morphology but also on functional lesion features such as tissue perfusion and enhancement kinetics.