Compared with conventional imaging, contrast-enhanced MR provides a more accurate assessment of the extent of invasive lobular carcinoma in the breast, according to researchers in Canada.

"Invasive lobular carcinoma grows in a single-file fashion," said Dr. Supriya Kulkarni, an assistant professor of medical imaging at the University of Toronto.

Keeping this pathology in mind, Kulkarni and colleagues sought to examine how MR would compare with conventional imaging methods in determining the extent of disease. They prospectively studied 24 women over 16 months. The women all had biopsy-proven invasive lobular cancer, and the researchers used contrast-enhanced MR to preoperatively stage the cancer. They compared results from the CE MR with conventional imaging and lumpectomy or mastectomy.

Thirteen of the women had invasive lobular cancer, while 11 exhibited invasive lobular cancer with ductal features. Conventional imaging captured multicentric disease in 54% of the patients, compared with 83% using CE MR. The researchers found multifocal disease in 17% of the population using conventional imaging and in 29% using CE MR.