Study bolsters case for breast MRI screening
Breast MRI is far superior to x-ray mammography for picking up ductal carcinoma in situ generally and for spotting high-grade early-stage disease, according to Dr. Christiane Kuhl and colleagues at the University of Bonn.
Breast MRI is far superior to x-ray mammography for picking up ductal carcinoma in situ generally and for spotting high-grade early-stage disease, according to Dr. Christiane Kuhl and colleagues at the University of Bonn.
They enrolled 7319 women who underwent mammography and MRI in a screening setting. Of these, 167 received both imaging tests preoperatively and had a biopsy-proven diagnosis of DCIS without associated invasive breast cancer. Mammography detected 56% and MRI detected 92% of all DCIS. MRI detected 98% of high-grade lesions compared with 52% for mammography (Lancet 2007;370:485-492).
An editorial in the same issue suggested MRI should no longer be seen as an adjunct to mammography but as a screening modality in its own right. Study authors warned against quick conclusions, however, noting that few radiologists can offer MRI with the level of expertise required for diagnostic mammography.
Considering Breast- and Lesion-Level Assessments with Mammography AI: What New Research Reveals
June 27th 2025While there was a decline of AUC for mammography AI software from breast-level assessments to lesion-level evaluation, the authors of a new study, involving 1,200 women, found that AI offered over a seven percent higher AUC for lesion-level interpretation in comparison to unassisted expert readers.
