735.000 euro from ZonMW Preventie for research on MRI screening in women at high risk for breast cancer

Published: Monday, August 23, 2010

Prof. Dr. Petra Peeters and Dr. Carla van Gils from the Julius Center and Prof.dr. Willem Mali and Dr. Maurice van den Bosch from the Imaging Division are coordinating a large multicenter trial. Its goal is to study whether participants in the National Breast Cancer Screening Program, who have extremely dense breasts, would benefit from additional MRI examination. The study is conducted together with the Erasmus Medical Center that primarily focuses on the value of MRI for women who are at increased risk because of a family history of breast cancer.
The study is embedded in the Early Detection and Prevention research line from the Personalized Cancer Care spearhead of the UMCU

Background
High mammographic density of the breast tissue is caused by a large amount of fibroglandular tissue in the breast. On a mammogram, dense tissue easily masks any breast tumors present. In addition to that, women with very dense breasts have a strongly increased risk of developing breast cancer. Additional examination with MRI could be of great value for the early detection of breast cancer in these women. Disadvantages of the MRI are an expected increase in the number of false-positive findings and its high costs. This study includes a cost-effectiveness analysis.