Use Of Preoperative Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Articles

Current Trends in the Utilization of Preoperative Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Among Women With Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer.

The clinical benefit of preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for early-stage breast cancer (BC) remains controversial. We examined trends and the associated factors of preoperative breast MRI use. This study cohort, constructed from Optum Clinformatics database, included women with early-stage BC who had a cancer surgery between March 1, 2008, and December 31, 2020. Preoperative breast MRI was performed between the date of BC diagnosis and index surgery. Multivariable logistic regressions, one for elderly (65 years and older) and the other for non-elderly patients (younger than 65 years), were performed to examine factors associated with the use of preoperative MRI. Among 92,077 women with early-stage BC, the crude rate of preoperative breast MRI increased from 48% in 2008 to 60% in 2020 for nonelderly and from 27% to 34% for elderly women. For both age groups, non-Hispanic Blacks were less likely (odds ratio [OR]; 95% CI, younger than 65 years: 0.75, 0.70 to 0.81; 65 years and older: 0.77, 0.72 to 0.83) to receive preoperative MRI than non-Hispanic White patients. Across Census divisions, the highest adjusted rate was observed in Mountain division (OR compared with New England; 95% CI, younger than 65 years: 1.45, 1.27 to 1.65; 65 years and older: 2.42, 2.16 to 2.72). Other factors included younger age, fewer comorbidities, family history of BC, axillary node involvement, and neoadjuvant chemotherapy for both age groups. The use of preoperative breast MRI has steadily increased. Aside from clinical factors, age, race/ethnicity, and geographic location were associated with preoperative MRI use. This information is important for future implementation or deimplementation strategies of preoperative MRI.

Abstract PD16-01: Racial Disparities in the Use of Preoperative Breast MRI after Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Abstract Introduction: The use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) prior to surgical treatment for breast cancer has greatly increased over the past decade. As MRI more accurately defines disease extent vs mammography and sonography, it is frequently utilized for staging women at elevated risk of occult disease due to young age, dense breast tissue, and/or lobular histology. However, it is not known whether women from different racial backgrounds and socioeconomic statuses have equal access to preoperative breast MRI. The goal of this study was to assess whether the use of preoperative breast MRI varies by race and insurance type. Methods: We identified adult women who were diagnosed with Stage 0-III breast cancer within our mixed academic/community health system between 2016-2019 and were subsequently treated with surgical resection. We limited our analysis to non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White women, as they comprised 93% of the eligible cohort. Patients who underwent breast MRI between their date of diagnosis and date of surgery were considered to have had a “preoperative MRI.” We used multivariable logistic regression to quantify the association between patient factors and receipt of preoperative MRI. Covariates included patient race, insurance type, age, year of diagnosis, clinical stage, histology, breast density, receptor subtype, and receipt of neoadjuvant systemic therapy. Results: 1,268 women met inclusion criteria and had complete clinical information available for analysis. 362 (29%) were Black, and 906 (71%) were White. 718 (57%) had private insurance, 460 (36%) had Medicare, and 72 (6%) had Medicaid. Compared to White patients, a larger proportion of Black patients had Medicaid (15% vs. 2.0%), fatty or scattered density (i.e., level 1 or 2) breasts (69% vs 48%), and regional disease (26% vs 19%) (Table). Patients with Medicare had the highest proportion of fatty or scattered density breasts (67% vs private=46% vs Medicaid=56%), while patients with Medicaid had the highest proportion of regional disease (35% vs private=23% vs Medicare=15%). The proportion of patients who received preoperative MRI was higher for White (49%) vs Black women (37%, p< 0.001). After adjustment, Black patients were 52% less likely to undergo preoperative MRI compared to White patients (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.35-0.66, p< 0.001). Compared to privately-insured patients, patients with Medicare had a similar likelihood of undergoing preoperative MRI (OR 0.81, 95% CI 0.54-1.22, p=0.309), while patients with Medicaid may have had a lower likelihood of undergoing preoperative MRI (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.30-1.00, p=0.053). Conclusions: Black patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer were less likely than White patients to undergo preoperative breast MRI, a disparity that persisted after controlling for insurance and clinical factors. Algorithmic use of preoperative MRI may mitigate provider- and system-level biases and promote more equitable resource utilization. Table 1: Characteristics of patients with non-metastatic breast cancer, diagnosed and treated at our institution (2016-2019) *Biomarker data for 2019 cohort is pending Citation Format: Sara P. Ginzberg, Connor B. Grady, Oluwadamilola (Lola) Fayanju, Christine E. Edmonds. Racial Disparities in the Use of Preoperative Breast MRI after Breast Cancer Diagnosis [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2022 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2022 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(5 Suppl):Abstract nr PD16-01.

Resonance imaging on the surgical management of newly diagnosed breast cancer

Introduction: Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed malignancy in women and the leading cause of cancer death in women. Tumor size is a critical factor in determining the type and extent of surgical and oncologic treatment. It is accurately determined by imaging modalities such as mammography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which provide a more reliable determination of tumor size. The aim of our study was to investigate the impact of preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging on surgical treatment of newly diagnosed breast cancer. Material and Methods: The study retrospectively reviewed the records of 241 participants with newly diagnosed breast cancer who underwent preoperative mammography, breast ultrasound, and MRI between 2016 and 2020 at University Hospital Centre Rijeka. Patients were diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma, invasive lobular carcinoma, ductal carcinoma in situ, or a combination of the types. Surgical treatment included one of the following procedures: simple quadrantectomy, quadrantectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy, quadrantectomy and axillary lymph node dissection, mastectomy and sentinel biopsy, or mastectomy and axillary dissection. Results: Compared with histopathologic tumor size, breast MRI overestimated size in 10% of patients. T stage was underestimated in 5% of patients (p>0.050). In comparison, breast ultrasound overestimated tumor size in 12% and underestimated it in 48% (p<0.001). Similarly, mammography overestimated tumor size in 14% and underestimated it in 62% (p<0.001). Conclusion: In patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer, the use of preoperative breast MRI as an adjunct to mammography and ultrasound for locoregional staging significantly alters subsequent surgical treatment.

The Influence of Breast Density on Preoperative MRI Findings and Outcome in Patients with a Known Diagnosis of Breast Cancer.

The role of breast density as an indication for preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for surgical planning in women with breast cancer is unknown. We retrospectively reviewed breast cancer patients diagnosed from 2007 to 2011 who underwent preoperative MRI. We obtained clinical and pathological data and grouped patients by mammographic breast density, with Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) density A and B considered low density, and C and D considered high density. We analyzed local recurrence rates by breast density. Among 683 patients, 66.6% had high breast density. We noted MRI abnormalities in the ipsilateral breast in 41.8% high-density and 30.7% low-density breasts, while contralateral abnormalities were noted in 24.9% high-density and 13.8% low-density breasts. Biopsy was recommended for MRI findings in a similar number of patients regardless of density cohort. While more abnormalities were found in high-density breasts, the rate of additional cancer found was not significantly different (ipsilateral: 32 vs. 23%; contralateral: 6.2 vs. 3.2%) for high-and low-density patients, respectively (both p>0.15). With a median follow-up of 89 months, and similar rates of adjuvant systemic and radiation therapy, no difference in local recurrence rates existed when stratified according to density classification (p>0.53). While more abnormalities were identified on MRI in dense breasts, there was no statistically significant difference in the number of cancers identified or in recurrence rates. These findings question the routine use of preoperative breast MRI in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer based solely on breast density.

Routine use of preoperative breast MRI for patients considered for intraoperative radiotherapy.

This editorial comments on the study by Tallet et al. which reported on the incidence of ipsilateral second breast cancers (BC) detected by preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients being considered for intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT). Any second BC was detected in 7% of patients; an ipsilateral BC was detected in 4% of patients, precluding them from IORT. The authors comment that in view of detection of a substantial rate of ipsilateral BCs by preoperative MRI, this exam should be used routinely for staging patients being considered for IORT.

Breast MRI in Invasive Lobular Carcinoma: A Useful Investigation in Surgical Planning?

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is highly sensitive in detecting invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) of the breast. In our institution, patients who are deemed to be suitable for breast conserving surgery (BCS) with unifocal small ILC on standard imaging are offered breast MRI to exclude multifocal and larger ILC. Our study investigates the usefulness of breast MRI in ILC. A prospective cohort study over a 58-month period, including all consecutive patients with ILC having breast MRI. Primary objective was to find out the proportion of ILC patients where preoperative MRI caused a change in the surgical treatment. Secondary objectives included finding mastectomy rate (initial & final), re-operation rate, cancer size correlation with different imaging modalities and final histopathology, loco-regional recurrence and disease-free survival. A total of 334 bilateral breast MRI were performed including 72 (21.5%) MRI for ILC patients. All these MRI were carried out within 2 week of patients given the diagnosis (median 5.5 days). Age range was 24-83 (median 56.5) years. Nineteen of 72 ILC patients (26.4%) had a change in their planned operation from BCS to a different operation owing to MRI findings (seven patients with multifocal cancers, 10 with significantly larger size of the cancer and two with contralateral malignancy). Initial mastectomy rate was 31.9%, final mastectomy rate was 36.1% and re-operation rate in BCS group was 18.3%. MRI correlated better with ILC histopathology cancer size than mammogram and ultrasound scans. There was no statistically significant difference (p = 0.999) between the cancer size on histology (median 23 mm) and MRI (median 25 mm). However, mammogram (median 17 mm) and ultrasound (median 14.5 mm) scans showed cancer sizes significantly different to final histology cancer size (p = 0.0008 and p = 0.0021 respectively). Over a 44 months median follow-up (range 27-85), 95.8% disease-free survival and 98.6% overall survival have been observed. One out of every four patients (26.4%) with ILC had a change in their planned operation due to MRI findings. A relatively high disease-free survival over a medium-term follow-up proves the oncological safety of MRI in ILC. Our study provides evidence in support of the targeted use of preoperative breast MRI among patients with ILC to improve surgical planning.

Use of Preoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Breast Cancer: A Canadian Population-Based Study.

Contrary to practice guidelines, breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is commonly used in the preoperative evaluation of women with breast cancer. While existing literature has found little benefit to MRI in most patients, potential downstream consequences associated with breast MRI are not well described. To describe patterns of preoperative breast MRI utilization in a health care system with universal insurance and its association with downstream investigations and clinical outcomes. This was a population-based retrospective cohort study using administrative heath care databases in Ontario, Canada (2012 population, 13.5 million) over 14 geographic regions were evaluated within the data set. Participants comprised 53 015 patients with primary operable breast cancer treated from 2003 to 2012. Use of preoperative breast MRI by year, geographic region, and breast cancer stage. Postdiagnosis imaging, biopsy, and short-term surgical outcomes were also evaluated between those who did and did not receive MRI. Overall, 14.8% of patients (7824 of 53 015) had a preoperative MRI. During the 10-year study period, MRI use increased across all stages by 8-fold (from 3% to 24%; P < .001 for trend). Factors associated with MRI use were younger age, higher socioeconomic status, higher Charlson comorbidity score, surgery performed in a teaching hospital, and fewer years of surgeon experience. Multivariate analyses showed that preoperative breast MRI was associated with higher likelihood of the following: postdiagnosis breast imaging (odds ratio [OR], 2.09; 95% CI, 1.92-2.28), postdiagnosis breast biopsies (OR, 1.74; 95% CI, 1.57-1.93), postdiagnosis imaging to assess for distant metastatic disease (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.42-1.61), mastectomy (OR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.62-1.85), contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (OR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.23-1.77), and a greater than 30-day wait to surgery (OR, 2.52; 95% CI, 2.36-2.70) (all ORs are adjusted). Preoperative breast MRI use has increased substantially in routine clinical practice and is associated with a significant increase in ancillary investigations, wait time to surgery, mastectomies, and contralateral prophylactic mastectomies.

Preoperative breast MRI and surgical outcomes in elderly women with invasive ductal and lobular carcinoma: a population-based study.

Existing evidence suggests that preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) might not improve surgical outcomes in the general breast cancer population. To determine if patients differentially benefit from breast MRI, we examined surgical outcomes-initial mastectomy, reoperation, and final mastectomy rates-among patients grouped by histologic type. We identified women diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer from 2004 to 2007 in the SEER-Medicare dataset. We classified patients as having invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC), mixed ductal/lobular carcinoma (IDLC) or other histologic type. Medicare claims were used to identify breast MRI and definitive surgeries during the initial surgical treatment episode. We used propensity score methods to account for the differential likelihood of exposure to MRI. Of the 20,332 patients who met our inclusion criteria for this study, 12.2% had a preoperative breast MRI. Patients with ILC as compared to other histologic groups were most likely to receive MRI [OR 2.32; 95% CI (2.02-2.67)]. In the propensity score-adjusted analyses, breast MRI was associated with an increased likelihood of an initial mastectomy for all patients and among all histologic subgroups. Among patients with ILC, having a breast MRI was associated with lower odds of a reoperation [OR 0.59; 95% CI (0.40-0.86)], and an equal likelihood of a final mastectomy compared to similar patients without a breast MRI. Overall and among patients with IDC and IDLC, breast MRI was not significantly associated with a likelihood of a reoperation but was associated with greater odds of a final mastectomy. Our study provides evidence in support of the targeted use of preoperative breast MRI among patients with ILC to improve surgical planning; it does not provide evidence for the routine use of breast MRI among all newly diagnosed breast cancer patients or among patients with IDC.

Variability of Preoperative Breast MRI Utilization among Older Women with Newly Diagnosed Early-stage Breast Cancer

While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is frequently used following breast cancer diagnosis, routine use of breast MRI for preoperative evaluation remains contentious. We identified factors associated with preoperative breast MRI utilization and investigated the variation among physicians. We used the surveillance, epidemiology, and end Results (SEER)-Medicare linked database to analyze the preoperative breast MRI utilization among patients with stage 0, I, or II breast cancer diagnosed between 2002 and 2007. Multilevel logistic regression models were used to identify patient- and physician-level predictors of preoperative MRI utilization. Of 56,743 women with early-stage breast cancer who were treated with surgery and evaluated by a preoperative mammogram and/or ultrasound during the study period, 8.7% (n = 4,913) received preoperative breast MRI. While patient and tumor characteristics did predict preoperative breast MRI utilization, they explained only 15.4% of the variation in utilization rates. Differences in preoperative breast MRI utilization across physicians were large, after controlling patient-level factors and physicians' volumes. Accounting for clustering of patients within individual physicians (n = 3,144), the multilevel logistic regression models explained 36.4% of variation. The median odds ratio of 3.2, corresponding with the median value of the relative odds of receiving preoperative breast MRI between two randomly chosen physicians, indicated a large individual physician effect. Our study found that preoperative breast MRI has been adopted rapidly and variably. Although patient characteristics were associated with preoperative breast MRI utilization, physician practice was a major determinant of whether women received preoperative breast MRI. Future studies should evaluate whether routine use of preoperative breast MRI in newly diagnosed early-stage breast cancer improves clinical outcomes.

Trends and clinical implications of preoperative breast MRI in Medicare beneficiaries with breast cancer

While there has been increasing interest in the use of preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for women with breast cancer, little is known about trends in MRI use, or the association of MRI with surgical approach among older women. Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare database, we identified a cohort of women diagnosed with breast cancer from 2000 to 2009 who underwent surgery. We used Medicare claims to identify preoperative breast MRI and surgical approach. We evaluated temporal trends in MRI use according to age and type of surgery, and identified factors associated with MRI. We assessed the association between MRI and surgical approach: breast-conserving surgery (BCS) versus mastectomy, bilateral versus unilateral mastectomy, and use of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. Among the 72,461 women in our cohort, 10.1 % underwent breast MRI. Preoperative MRI use increased from 0.8 % in 2000-2001 to 25.2 % in 2008-2009 (p < 0.001). Overall, 43.3 % received mastectomy and 56.7 % received BCS. After adjustment for clinical and demographic factors, MRI was associated with an increased likelihood of having a mastectomy compared to BCS (adjusted odds ratio = 1.21, 95 % CI 1.14-1.28). Among women who underwent mastectomy, MRI was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of having bilateral cancer diagnosed (9.7 %) and undergoing bilateral mastectomy (12.5 %) compared to women without MRI (3.7 and 4.1 %, respectively, p < 0.001 for both). In conclusion, the use of preoperative breast MRI has increased substantially among older women with breast cancer and is associated with an increased likelihood of being diagnosed with bilateral cancer, and more invasive surgery.

Counterview: Pre-operative breast MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is not recommended for all patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer

For the woman with a newly diagnosed early stage breast cancer, the routine use of pre-operative breast MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is not indicated beyond conventional breast imaging (i.e., mammography with correlation ultrasound as indicated). There is no consistent evidence that a pre-operative breast MRI confers a benefit to the patient by improving clinical outcomes or surgical procedures. In a meta-analysis of studies reporting on the use of pre-operative breast MRI for the patient with an established index cancer, multifocal or multicentric disease was found on breast MRI in 16% of the patients, a rate substantially higher than the rate of local recurrence after breast conserving surgery plus definitive radiation treatment. In the largest retrospective study of patients treated with breast conserving surgery plus radiation, no gain was found for adding a breast MRI to conventional breast imaging. No randomized clinical trial has been designed to evaluate long term clinical outcomes associated with adding a pre-operative breast MRI. Adding pre-operative breast MRI can alter clinical management in ways that are potentially harmful to patients, for example, increased ipsilateral mastectomies, increased contralateral prophylactic mastectomies, increased work-ups, and delay to definitive surgery. In summary, the routine use of pre-operative breast MRI is not warranted for the typical patient with a newly diagnosed early stage breast cancer.