Under the auspices of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network (ACRIN) 6657 study, Dr. Constance Lehman and colleagues enrolled 237 women at nine institutions between May 2002 and March 2006. The women had invasive breast tumors 3 cm or greater in size and were receiving chemotherapy. Each of the study participants underwent MRI with contrast after the chemotherapy was complete but before surgery.
The study classified the tumors using measurements such as:
- Clinical
- Longest diameter on mammography
- Longest diameter on MRI
- MRI volume
After surgery, a pathologist measured the actual size of the residual tumor.
Overall, the pathology reports correlated most with the MRI longest diameter measurement, followed by MRI volume and clinical measurements. For single masses, the actual tumor size as confirmed by pathology matched MRI volume measurements best.
Mammography diameter didn't match the pathology reports overall, or for the subgroup of single lesions, Lehman wrote.
"In this study, MRI performed best in determining the amount of residual disease in the patient after chemotherapy and prior to surgery," Lehman told AuntMinnie.com. "This will be increasingly important as women with more advanced disease are treated with chemotherapy before rather than after surgery."
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