الفهرس 
Anatomy of the female breastOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Being one of the leading causes of death in women nowadays, every effort should be made towards defeating breast cancer, which can have significant physical as well as psychological effects.
For many years mammography has been the method of choice when it came to the early diagnosis of this often fatal disease. However, the decreased sensitivity of mammography becomes evident in the younger population of women at a greater risk of developing breast cancer. Patients at a greater risk include those who are known carriers of mutation of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene and those with a strong family history. It is in just such a population that a test such as MRI, which has been reported to have sensitivity for breast cancer detection as high as 94% to 100%, would be ideal.
The use of MRI in a population of women either known or suspected to carry a breast cancer susceptibility gene has been the subject of several studies which demonstrated that MRI was more accurate in the detection of breast cancer than mammography alone.
However, with the discovery of some limitations including dense breasts or DCIS it became apparent that MRI is an important adjunct in many scenarios. As more reliance on MRI emerged the problem of obtaining a biopsy from lesions that are only seen through the use of MRI and that are not visible by other modalities such as mammography and ultrasound became apparent. Equipments and techniques revolving around the use of MRI were made available and many trials comprising different MRI-guided biopsy have been thus performed. Methods of obtaining an MR-guided biopsy include FNAC, core needle biopsy, wire localization followed by surgical excision and vacuum-assisted biopsy. Each method includes points of advantages and disadvantages.
Many of the MRI’s inherent properties have also led to the belief that it could also be utilized in the actual treatment of breast cancer. Laser ablation, radiofrequency, high intensity ultrasound, cryoablation and lumpectomy all performed under MRI guidance have been tried with varying outcomes. This is an interesting field as several studies have revealed that although it still remains somewhat vague, the use of MRI in the treatment of breast cancer has so far led to some promising results as well as high expectations.