According to a study featured in the latest issue of Radiology, MR spectroscopy significantly reduces need for breast biopsy. Researchers found that imaging suspicious breast lesions with magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy reduced the need for biopsy by 58 percent.
The investigators, from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, discovered that with the addition of MR spectroscopy to their breast MR imaging (MRI) protocol, 23 of 40 suspicious lesions could have been spared biopsy, and none of the resultant cancers would have been missed.
?All cancers in this study were identified with MR spectroscopy. There were no false-negative results,? said Lia Bartella, M.D., lead investigator and assistant professor in the Department of Breast Imaging at Memorial Sloan-Kettering.
?With the addition of MR spectroscopy to our breast MRI exam, we found that the number of biopsies recommended on the basis of MRI findings decreased significantly. These results should encourage more women to take this potentially life-saving test,? she added. MRI is playing an increasingly important role in the screening of women at high risk for breast cancer. One drawback of the technology, however, has been a considerable number of breast biopsy procedures recommended on the basis of imaging findings, which turn out to be benign. With MR spectroscopy, the radiologist is able to see the chemical make-up of a tumor, so in most cases, he or she can tell without biopsy whether or not the lesion is cancerous.
?MR spectroscopy is fast and well tolerated, and could be readily incorporated into a breast MRI examination,? said Dr. Bartella. Dr. Bartella hopes that in the future, MR spectroscopy will be incorporated into routine diagnostic breast MRI exams, which will prevent most patients from having to return to the imaging centre for a second examination.
The researchers are expecting to improve this technology; they are hoping to perk up the acceptability and cost-effectiveness of this imaging technique.
?The door to breast MR spectroscopy in the clinical setting is now beginning to open,? Dr Bartella said.