Study finds MRI useful for breast cancer

SAN FRANCISCO, Jun 16, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- MRIs can be a useful tool to determine whether breast cancer will return, a study finds.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, tracked 58 women with breast cancer. They found that a comparison of MRIs made before chemotherapy and after provided the most useful predictor.

Savannah Partridge, Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Washington, said patients with the smallest tumors when treatment began were less likely to have a recurrence of cancer. Those with reductions in the size of tumors during treatment of 50 percent or more were also safer from a recurrence.

Partridge said the MRI is especially useful in breast cancer treatment because it can be used to decide on changes in chemotherapy treatment.

The study was published in the American Journal of Roentgenology.