Is Breast MRI a better test than mammography?

DIA’s vision is that each women receives informed and  experienced care,  with the purpose  of better health and  quality-of-life.Breast MRI is not to replace mammography, which has saved many lives from breast cancer. Instead it provides a powerful supplementary tool for detecting and staging breast cancer. The two tests are both great exams, each with their own strengths. Most commonly, Breast MRI is performed to answer a specific question raised from the patient’s mammogram. Breast MRI is a more sensitive test in detecting breast cancer than mammography. There are some cancers that can be seen with MRI that cannot be seen with mammography. This is especially true in patients who have dense breast tissue. Regardless of breast density, if a breast cancer is present, Breast MRI can detect it greater than 95% of the time, while mammography can detect cancer approximately 80-90% of the time. If the patient has dense breast tissue, the rate of detection of cancer can go down to as low as 50% by mammogram alone. For this reason, Breast MRI can be quite helpful in this sub-group of patients who have dense breast tissue on their mammograms and a change in their mammogram, a palpable lump or a biopsy-proven cancer. (Note: If you have dense breast tissue it is likely that DIA's Digital Mammography will provide better imaging quality for you than a conventional mammography).