Role of magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of recurrence after breast conserving therapy

The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of MRI in detecting breast cancer recurrence were analyzed. 40 patients undergoing breast conserving therapy were studied with MRI. Cytohistologic examinations of suspected local recurrence were carried out. In these patients, the clinical, mammographic and sonographic characteristics of local recurrence were nonspecific or dubious. All patients were examined at least 1 year after completion of radiation therapy. Qualitative and quantitative information was acquired with dynamic MRI. Statistical analysis was performed with the Student's t test. Breast cancer recurrence identified in 22 patients was confirmed on histology in all of them. There were only 2 cases of false positive results. MRI showed 95% accuracy, 100% sensitivity and 88.8% specificity with 5% false-positives and 100% negative predictive value. Dynamic MRI appears a valuable technique for differentiation of post-treatment changes in recurrent carcinoma and for guiding the histological confirmation.