PHILADELPHIA PA – Women with newly diagnosed breast cancer who receive a breast MRI (magnetic resonance image) are more likely to receive a mastectomy after their diagnosis and may face delays in starting treatment, according to a Fox Chase Cancer Center study appearing in the August edition of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
PMMC's Dr. Frank Song.
Pottstown Memorial Regional Cancer Center on East High Street, Pottstown PA, is affiliated with Fox Chase to provide local cancer research, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Fox Chase researchers found that routine use of MRI scans, despite the lack of evidence of their benefit, increased significantly in newly diagnosed women between 2004 and 2005, and again in 2006. “We’re concerned that the well-documented false-positive rate with MRIs may be leading, or misleading, women into choosing mastectomies,” said Dr. Richard J. Bleicher, a breast cancer surgeon at Fox Chase.
“Many of these women would have been candidates for a procedure known as a lumpectomy,” noted Dr. W. Frank Song, co-medical director of Pottstown Memorial Regional Cancer Center. “While mastectomy involves removal of all or most of the breast and the need for reconstructive surgery, lumpectomy is a type of breast-sparing surgery that offers women a very effective and appropriate option for treating their breast cancer.”
“In the community hospital setting, where we often see patients at the point of screening and diagnosis, it is important for us to be on top of key research such as this study about breast MRIs,” Song added.
Photo supplied by PMMC
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