Lead author Dr. Sandra Brennan and colleagues conducted the study for the benefit of their own practice quality, Brennan told AuntMinnie.com.
"We wanted to audit our practice and see what our rate of cancellation was," she said. "Every practice should do this. If the rate of cancellation is high, then too much background or hormonal-type enhancement is being called."
The team performed a review of 844 patients scheduled for MRI-guided breast biopsy between 2004 and 2008. Out of those 844, 71 patients, or 8%, had biopsies cancelled because the lesion wasn't visible at the time of the procedure. Brennan's team then reviewed medical records and imaging studies to determine the patient's hormonal status at the time and the background features of the tissue.
Among the 71 patients, hormonal status was premenopausal in 41 (58%) and postmenopausal in 30 (42%). Fifty-six (79%) of these 71 patients had follow-up MRI examinations at a median of 16 months. The cancellation rate during the study timeframe varied from 14% to 7%.
"Overall, our rate of cancellation was in the expected range," Brennan said. "We found that more than 40% of the patients were postmenopausal and that background enhancement had no significant impact, which suggests that nonhormonal factors may contribute to lesion disappearance."
Although no cancers were found in the canceled MRI biopsy cases, short-term MRI follow-up may be prudent, Brennan wrote.
