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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2012; 22(01): 69-73
DOI: 10.4103/0971-3026.95408
Breast Radiology

MRI evaluation of the contralateral breast in patients with recently diagnosed breast cancer

Sangeeta Taneja
Department of MRI, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, India
,
Amarnath Jena
Department of MRI, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, India
,
Syed. Mohd. Shuaib Zaidi
Department of Surgical Oncology, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, India
,
Anuj Khurana
Department of Pathology, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, India
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Abstract

Introduction: Contralateral breast cancer can be synchronous and/or metachronous in patients with cancer of one breast. Detection of a synchronous breast cancer may affect patient management. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI of the breast (DCE-MRI) is a sensitive technique for detecting contralateral lesions occult on the other imaging modalities in women already diagnosed with cancer of one breast. Aim: The aim was to assess the incidence of mammographically occult synchronous contralateral breast cancer in patients undergoing MRI mammography for the evaluation of a malignant breast lesion. Materials and Methods: A total of 294 patients with recently diagnosed breast cancer who underwent MRI of the breast were evaluated for lesions in the opposite breast. Results: The incidence of synchronous contralateral malignancy detected by preoperative MRI mammography done for evaluation of extent of disease was 4.1%. Conclusion: Preoperative breast MRI may detect clinically and mammographically occult synchronous contralateral cancer, and can help the patient avoid an additional second surgery or a second course of chemotherapy later; also, as theoretically these lesions are smaller, there may be a survival benefit as well.

Keywords

Bilateral breast cancer - MR mammography - synchronous breast cancer


Publication History

Article published online:
30 July 2021

© 2012. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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