Abbreviated Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Supplemental Screening of Women With Dense Breasts and Average Risk

Although mammography is the standard of care for breast cancer screening, dense breast tissue decreases mammographic sensitivity. We report the prevalent cancer detection rate (CDR) from the first clinical implementation of abbreviated breast magnetic resonance imaging (AB-MR) as a supplemental screening test in women with dense breasts.

The study was approved by the institutional review board and is Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act complaint. This retrospective review includes women who were imaged between January 1, 2016 and February 28, 2019. On a 1.5 Tesla magnet, the imaging protocol consisted of three sequences: Short-TI Inversion Recovery (STIR), precontrast, and postcontrast. A subtraction sequence and a maximum intensity projection were generated. We report the patient-level CDR and the positive predictive value of AB-MR examinations after negative/benign digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT).

Out of 511 prevalent rounds of AB-MR examinations, 36 women were excluded. The remaining 475 asymptomatic women with dense breasts had negative/benign DBT examinations before the AB-MR. There were 420 of 475 (88.4%) benign/negative examinations, 13 of 475 (2.7%) follow-up recommendations, and 42 biopsy recommendations. Thirty-nine biopsies were completed, resulting in 12/39 (30.8%) malignancies in 12 women: seven invasive carcinomas and five ductal carcinoma in situ. One additional patient was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma at the time of 6-month follow-up. The CDR was 27.4 per 1,000 (13 of 475; 95% CI, 16.1 to 46.3). The size of invasive carcinomas ranged from 0.6-1.0 cm (mean, 0.5 cm). Of the seven women who underwent surgical evaluation of the axilla, zero of seven patients had positive nodes. There were no interval cancers at 1-year follow-up.

Preliminary results from clinical implementation of screening AB-MR resulted in a CDR of 27.4/1,000 at the patient level after DBT in women with dense breasts. Additional evaluation is warranted.