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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Two screenings may be better than one for women at high risk for breast cancer.
New research shows magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with X-ray mammography detects more breast cancers than mammography alone.
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The findings are consistent with the current guidelines of leading cancer organizations such as the American Cancer Institute and the American Society of Breast Disease -- they recommend screening that includes MRI, X-ray mammography and ultrasound for women at high risk of breast cancer.
Researchers analyzed data from six studies that screened a total of 1,920 women thought to be at very high risk of breast cancer because of their family history. Each year participants had MRI, X-ray mammography, ultrasound and breast exams.
Results show using both MRI and X-ray mammography made it 2.7-times more likely to detect breast cancers than X-ray alone. And using MRI alone was 2.3-times more accurate in finding cancer than mammography by itself.
The study also finds the combination screening leads to more false-positives and will lead to more women having unnecessary follow-up procedures. But researchers say women at high risk may not mind because it will give them the reassurance that they do not have cancer.
"In high-risk women, the cancer can be more aggressive, so you want to detect it as soon as possible," lead author Wendy Bruening, Ph.D., ECRI Institute, was quoted as saying. "Whenever you increase the cancer detection rate you have to expect some additional false positives. But for women at high risk of cancer, the benefit of finding more cancers earlier may outweigh the harms of unnecessary testing."
ECRI is an independent nonprofit international health services agency.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, which offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, click on: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: ECRI Institute
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