MRI Results

I had mamography, ultrasound, and MRI tests done.  Both the mamography and the ultrasound apparently showed some an area of concern, but nothing out of the ordinary.  Since I belong to the high-risk category (one maternal aunt died of cancer), MRI was recommended to supplement the other tests.  After receiving the MRI results, my Doctor wants to follow-up with a biopsy.  When I asked him whether he should consider removing a lump, he replied that he would have to take the whole breast out! He did not provide me with any other information regarding how serious he thinks this might be. Should I be concerned about the MRI results? I know they have a high rate of 'false-positives', but I also know that the mamo and ultrasound help to rule out some of the suspect areas identified by an MRI.  Should I request the technical results of the MRI, and if so, how should I interpret them (I think I saw a scale on a previous posting going from 1 to 5, in terms of whether the results help to rule out or confirm the presence of cancer.

Thanks

[DrBhumikaMD]

Hi,
Do not worry right now. Get the MRI done and discuss the report in detail with your radiologist alongwith your mammogram and USG report. Also discuss with your doctor about what he is suspecting. Usually an MRI is done to rule out cancer especially in persons with suspicious lesions or dense breasts and those who belong to the high risk category. Continue regular breast self exams and get a clinical evaluation done by your physician every 6 months as part of the follow up. Goodluck.

[38finaz]

Thank you.  I meant to say that my Doctor already reviewed the MRI results (without giving me a lot of details) other than following up with a biopsy (I have a dense breast by the way).  Do you know if I order the technical results from the MRI I should be able to get a better assessment in terms of what they found through imaging? Does that mean that MRI was not useful to rule out previous results, and how often does this occurr in other women?

Thanks  

[DrBhumikaMD]

Hi,
Yes you should ask for a detailed report of the MRI results. Ask the radiologist or the technician to give you a copy of the report. You could then discuss it with your physician or surgeon and also post a query here. Also ask for a copy of the biopsy report too from the concerned department. An MRI usually is used in corboration with a mammogram, USG and clinical evaluation. It is a very sensitive test so the rate of picking up false positive lesions is also high. Only a radiologist or doctor or maybe the report could tell for sure what was seen on the MRI. Goodluck.