MR-IMAGING OF THE BREAST FOR CANCER EVALUATION - CURRENT STATUS AND FUTURE-DIRECTIONS

This article discusses the current status of clinical feasibility test ing and outlines some of the advantages and disadvantages of contrast- enhanced breast MR imaging. A review of imaging parameters includes th e dose of paramagnetic contrast agents, two- versus three-dimensional scanning, and postprocessing data analysis with an emphasis on areas f or further development. Principles of interpretation for normal tissue , benign lesions, and invasive cancers are summarized including causes of false-positive and false-negative MR imaging interpretations. Futu re clinical roles for breast MR imaging such as MR imaging-directed bi opsies and therapies and MR as a complementary technique to film-scree n mammography for selected clinical situations are suggested.