Adding M.R.I.’s to Mammograms for High-Risk Women

A combination of annual mammograms and M.R.I. scans for women at high risk of breast cancer appears to saves lives, new research shows. The New York Times medical reporter Denise Grady reports on the research in today’s Science Times.

The study, the first to measure survival in a large number of high-risk women receiving M.R.I.’s, found that after six years of follow-up, 93 percent of mutation carriers with cancer were still alive, compared with only 74 percent alive at five years in earlier studies….

Experts began several years ago to recommend yearly M.R.I. scans in addition to mammograms for high-risk women, because M.R.I. is better at finding tumors. Mammograms still detect some cancers that M.R.I.’s miss, so high-risk women are generally advised to have both tests. But until now, researchers did not know whether the combined testing saved lives.

To learn more about who can benefit from the additional testing, read the full story, “M.R.I.’s Help Fight High Risk of Cancer,’‘ and then please join the discussion below.

via NY Times