Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast is performed for women with dense breasts, as a screening tool for patients with a strong family history of breast carcinoma, or in differentiating benign from malignant lesions. Breast MRI is typically performed after a biopsy that is positive for cancer to provide the doctor with more information about the extent of the disease. Breast MR is also performed to evaluate the integrity of breast implants.

Charter Radiology is changing the perception of Breast MRI  and is creating a new standard for care for women throughout the region. “It is our job to close the gap between early detection and effective treatment. One of the gold standards is the Sentinelle Breast MRI coil, which also has the ability to perform MR guided biopsy. This device enables us to deliver the highest level of personalized care, one woman at a time,” said Dr. Daisy Uppal, founder and CEO of Charter Radiology.

Breast MRI Indications

• Recent diagnosis of breast cancer
• Axillary nodal metastasis with unknown primary
• Positive margins after breast-conserving surgery
• Suspected chest wall invasion
• Recurrent tumor vs. scarring
• Suspicious finding on mammogram
• Bloody/spontaneous clear nipple discharge
• Abnormal prior breast MRI
• High-risk screening (in addition to mammography)
  • Known or suspected BRCA-1 or -2 mutation carrier
  • First degree relative (e.g. parent, sibling, child) known carrier
  • Strong family history of breast cancer
    • 2+ blood relatives with breast and/or ovarian cancer
    • 3+ blood relatives with breast cancer-one of them diagnosed under 35 years old

Who should get breast MRI?

• High-risk women.  BRCA mutation carriers and women with a 20-25% or greater lifetime risk of breast cancer.
• Pre-operative staging.  MRI is more sensitive than mammography in the assessment of tumor size, as well as detection of multi-focal and multi-centric cancers. It has been proven to help detect ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) and extensive intraductal components.
• Evaluation of response to neo-adjuvant chemotherapy.  According to scientific studies, a pre-treatment breast MRI should be performed in patients with large, potentially operable cancers before the first course of neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). A second breast MRI should be performed two weeks after the last NAC cycle and within two weeks of surgery.
• Implant patients.  The FDA recommends that women with breast implants have a bi-annual MRI, starting the third year after implantation to detect subclinical implant leakages and overall implant integrity.