Fast MRI breast cancer screening – Ready for prime time

• Published in: Clinical imaging 2020-04, Vol.60 (2), p.160-168
• Main Authors: Partovi, Sasan, Sin, David, Lu, Ziang, Sieck, Leah, Marshall, Holly, Pham, Ramya, Plecha, Donna
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abbreviated protocol; Accuracy; Breast cancer; Breast Cancer screening; Breast imaging; Cancer screening; Diagnostic systems; Health risk assessment; Insurance policies; Invasiveness; Magnetic resonance imaging; Mammography; Medical screening; Patients; Studies; Womens health; Workflow
• ISSN: 0899-7071; 1873-4499
• DOI: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2019.10.013

The manuscript discusses landmark studies using abbreviated MRI for breast cancer screening. This includes abbreviated dynamic contrast enhanced MRI and diffusion weighted imaging. Our institutional experience with abbreviated MR protocol for breast cancer screening is also described. Abbreviated MRI protocols were found to demonstrate value for screening of breast cancer. It has been shown that abbreviated protocol MRI provides similar diagnostic sensitivities to full protocol MRI for breast cancer in women with increased lifetime risk. Our institutional abbreviated MRI protocol for breast cancer offers improved time and workflow efficiencies and has the potential to increase the number of breast cancers detected and the detection of pathologically relevant invasive breast cancer at earlier stages. •Novel breast MRI protocols include abbreviated DCE MRI, Ultrafast breast MRI, and DWI.•Abbreviated MRI protocols have shown similar sensitivities and specificities to a full MRI protocol.•Ultrafast DCE MRI significantly reduced acquisition and reading times compared to a full MRI protocol.•Ultrafast DCE MRI showed increased specificity and similar sensitivity compared to a full MRI protocol.•DWI provided additional non-invasive characterization of breast tumors compared to DCE MRI.•The Fast MRI screening program has potential to increase the number of breast cancers detected.