Ultrasound, MRI to detect breast cancer

CHICAGO, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A U.S. study finds annual screening ultrasound for women who have dense breasts and are at elevated risk for breast cancer are beneficial, researchers said.

Lead researcher Dr. Wendie A. Berg, a breast imaging specialist at American Radiology Services, said the study confirmed magnetic resonance imaging is highly sensitive in depicting early breast cancer.

"We found that annual screening with ultrasound in addition to mammography significantly improves the detection of early breast cancer," Berg said in a statement. "Significantly more early breast cancer can be found when MRI is performed, even after combined screening with both ultrasound and mammography. However, both ultrasound and MRI increase the risk of false-positive findings."

Women who are at high risk for breast cancer need to begin screening at a younger age, because they often develop cancer earlier. However, women below age 50 can limit the effectiveness of mammography as a screening tool, the researchers said.

Multicenter trials have shown MRI enables radiologists to accurately identify tumors missed by mammography and ultrasound. However, MRI is not for everyone.

"MRI is a very expensive test and requires intravenous contrast, it is something we only recommend for screening the approximately 2 percent of women who are known or likely carriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations or have very high risk for breast cancer," Berg said.

The findings were presented at the Radiological Society of North America meeting in Chicago.