No Biopsy Required For MRI-Detected BI-RADS 2 Lesions

Breast biopsies are unnecessary for breast lesions found by breast MRI and characterized as BI-RADS 2, according to a study published in the journal Clinical Radiology.

Researchers from Austria performed a retrospective single-center study to assess the frequency of malignancies in lesions characterized as benign on breast MRI.

A total of 1,265 patients, mean age 50, were included in the study. All had undergone dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (1.5 T) of the breast during a six-year period.

The researchers examined the MRI characteristics and frequency of malignancy in 192 of the patients found to have breast lesions classified as BI-RADS 2.

The lesions were either histopathologically verified or subjected to both clinical and imaging follow-up of at least two years (range: two to nine years).

The results showed that no lesions that were classified as BI-RADS 2 were found to be malignant. “Histopathology was available in 67 (34.9%) lesions and revealed benign findings exclusively,” the authors wrote. “The remaining 125 (65.1%) lesions did not exhibit changes during the follow-up period and were, therefore, considered negative for malignancy.”

The researchers concluded that breast biopsies are unnecessary for breast lesions classified as BI-RADS 2, due to the absence of malignancies.