ArticleEuropean radiology2023
Breast density and the likelihood of malignant MRI-detected lesions in women diagnosed with breast cancer.
Article in European radiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Benign and Malignant Breast Lesions: Differentiation Using Microstructural Metrics Derived from Time-Dependent Diffusion MRI.Radiology. Imaging cancer · 2025Trial
- Time-dependent diffusion MRI as in vivo histology: microstructural biomarkers for breast cancer diagnosis and prognostic stratification.Cancer imaging : the official publication of the International Cancer Imaging Society · 2026Article
- Feasibility of Auditing Preoperative Breast MRI for Extent-of-Disease Evaluation Using the BI-RADS v2025 Manual.Radiology · 2025Article
- Constructing the Optimal Classification Model for Benign and Malignant Breast Tumors Based on Multifeature Analysis from Multimodal Images.Journal of imaging informatics in medicine · 2024Article
- Preoperative breast MRI in women with dense breasts: can we keep up with a rapidly changing scenario?European radiology · 2023Article
- Application of Multimodal Ultrasound Combined With BI-RADS in Classification and Diagnosis of Non-Mass Breast Lesions.Journal of clinical ultrasound : JCUArticle
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12 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
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Abstract
objectivesTo assess whether mammographic breast density in women diagnosed with breast cancer correlates with the total number of incidental magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-detected lesions and the likelihood of the lesions being malignant.
methodsPatients diagnosed with breast cancer meeting the EUSOBI and EUSOMA criteria for preoperative breast MRI routinely undergo mammography and ultrasound before MRI at our institution. Incidental suspicious breast lesions detected in MRI are biopsied. We included patients diagnosed with invasive breast cancers between 2014 and 2019 who underwent preoperative breast MRI. One reader retrospectively determined breast density categories according to the 5
resultsOf 946 patients with 973 malignant primary breast tumors, 166 (17.5%) had a total of 175 (18.0%) incidental MRI-detected lesions (82 (46.9%) malignant and 93 (53.1%) benign). High breast density according to BI-RADS was associated with higher incidence of all incidental enhancing lesions in preoperative breast MRIs: 2.66 (95% confidence interval: 1.03-6.86) higher for BI-RADS density category B, 2.68 (1.04-6.92) for category C, and 3.67 (1.36-9.93) for category D compared to category A (p < 0.05). However, high breast density did not predict higher incidence of malignant incidental lesions (p = 0.741). Incidental MRI-detected lesions in the contralateral breast were more likely benign (p < 0.001): 18 (27.3%)/48 (72.7%) vs. 64 (58.7%)/45 (41.3%) malignant/benign incidental lesions in contralateral vs. ipsilateral breasts.
conclusionWomen diagnosed with breast cancer who have dense breasts have more incidental MRI-detected lesions, but higher breast density does not translate to increased likelihood of malignant incidental lesions. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: Dense breasts should not be considered as an indication for preoperative breast MRI in women diagnosed with breast cancer. KEY POINTS: • The role of preoperative MRI of patients with dense breasts diagnosed with breast cancer is under debate. • Women with denser breasts have a higher incidence of all MRI-detected incidental breast lesions, but the incidence of malignant MRI-detected incidental lesions is not higher than in women with fatty breasts. • High breast density alone should not indicate preoperative breast MRI.
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