General Medicine

» tinuviel - Role of MRI in Breast Cancer

You might be a bit disappointed because I can't really answer your question since I've never had breast cancer.

But I imagine this discovery must be exciting for those patients who have been considering bilateral mastectomies after being diagnosed in just one breast. The fact that MRI's have such high predictive quality must mean that many women can make more educated decisions about how to treat their cancers. And that's really good news.

Did I read the article correctly that the MRI also rules out 99 percent of all the persons who didn't have traces of cancer in the other breast? If this is so, this sounds like one of the most conclusive forms of cancer detection/treatment (or anything) I've heard of.

I have a question that I'm not sure will make sense, but here goes. About the 3% more detections that MRI's can accomplish: Does this mean 3% more than it could detect before, or 3% of the 10% that previously went undetected? The former situation would seem more favorable, and if that really is what is meant, then (in light of the statistics quoted in the previous paragraph) do you think that the 3% might cover almost all of the cases that usually went undetected? That would spell very good news.

I hope you understand what I'm asking.

-- posted by tinuviel