THURSDAY, Sept. 5 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the use of perioperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is not associated with lower rates of locoregional recurrence (LRR), according to a study to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 2013 Breast Cancer Symposium, held from Sept. 7 to 9 in San Francisco.
Melissa Louise Pilewskie, M.D., from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, and colleagues compared LRR rates among 2,321 women with DCIS who underwent perioperative MRI (596 women) versus those who did not undergo MRI (1,725 women).
The researchers found that the five-year LRR rates were 8.5 percent for those who underwent MRI and 7.2 percent for those who did not (P = 0.52). The rates at eight years were 14.6 and 10.2 percent, respectively. After adjustment for age, menopausal status, family history, presentation, adjuvant therapy, margin status, number of excisions, and years of surgery, MRI was not associated with lower LRR rates in the entire cohort or in the subgroup who did not receive radiation therapy.
"We now have a lot of evidence that indicates that MRI isn't necessary for every patient with DCIS. Aside from the cost of the test, MRI has a rather high false positive rate, which may result in additional biopsies and a delay in surgery," Pilewskie said in a statement. "We need to focus on spending money and time on tests that we know are going to provide benefit."
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