Breast cancer: Follow-up with MRI after therapy

Abstract

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy in women worldwide. The incidence and mortality rates of the disease have increased the past few years, especially in richer countries that have adopted the mammographic screening control. Mastectomy and breast conserving therapy with radiation therapy and/or chemotherapy consist the current therapeutic approach for breast cancer. Follow-up of patients with breast cancer is an issue of great importance in order to estimate the presence of residual tumor in the site of lumpectomy, estimate the presence of recurrence and also assess the outcome of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been introduced the past few decades as a modality for breast imaging. MRI has been established as an accurate method for the follow-up of patients treated for breast cancer.