Non-enhancing asymmetries on screening contrast-enhanced mammography: Is further diagnostic workup required?

Objectives: Asymmetries on screening contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) often lead to patient recall. However, in diagnostic settings, negative CEM has effectively classified these as normal or benign, questioning the need for further workup of non-enhancing asymmetries (NEAs).

Material And Methods: A computational search of all screening CEM examinations performed between December-2012 and June-2021 was conducted to identify cases reporting NEAs.

Extremely dense breasts: A comprehensive review of increased cancer risk and supplementary screening methods.

Women with extremely dense breasts account for approximately 10% of the screening population and face an increased lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. At the same time, the sensitivity of mammography, the first-line screening modality, is significantly reduced in this breast density group, owing to the masking effect of the abundant fibroglandular tissue. Consequently, this population has garnered increasing scientific attention due to the unique diagnostic challenge they present.

Radiology advocacy: Promoting collaboration between trainees and professional societies.

From mammographic screening guidelines to resident work hour regulations, public policy affects every aspect of the practice of radiology and ultimately determines how radiological care is delivered to patients. Shaping public policy through advocacy is therefore critical to ensure patient access to equitable, high-quality radiological care. In advocacy, individual practicing radiologists and radiology trainees can increase the scope of their influence by collaborating with professional radiology societies.

Bone Lesions Detected on Breast MRI: Clinical Outcomes and Features Associated with Metastatic Breast Cancer.

Objective: To determine prevalence and frequency of malignancy among bone lesions detected on breast MRI and to identify clinical and imaging features associated with bone metastases from breast cancer (BC), as bone lesions are suboptimally evaluated on breast imaging protocols and can present a diagnostic challenge.

Methods: This IRB-approved retrospective review of breast MRIs performed from June 2009 to June 2018 identified patients with bone lesions. Demographic, clinical, and MRI features were reviewed.

High-Temporal/High-Spatial Resolution Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Improves Diagnostic Accuracy Compared With Standard Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Patients With High Background Parenchymal Enhancement.

Purpose: To compare breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diagnostic performance using a standard high-spatial resolution protocol versus a simultaneous high-temporal/high-spatial resolution (HTHS) protocol in women with high levels of background parenchymal enhancement (BPE).

Materials And Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of contrast-enhanced breast MRIs performed at our institution before and after the introduction of the HTHS protocol. We compared diagnostic performance of the HTHS and standard protocol by comparing cancer detection rate (CDR) and positive predictive value of biopsy (PPV3) among women with high BPE (ie, marked or moderate).

Quality assurance in Mammography: An overview.

Since 1989, hundreds of thousands of lives have been saved worldwide by the widespread use of screening mammography alongside new developments in breast cancer treatment [1]. The ability of screening mammography to detect cancer early, when treatment is most effective, is optimized when it is performed in the highest quality manner and accessed by all eligible candidates. Currently, worldwide, there are over 14 guidance documents for mammographic quality [2].

Comparison of Axillary Lymph Nodes on Breast MRI Before and After COVID-19 Booster Vaccination.

Rationale And Objectives: Vaccine-related lymphadenopathy is a frequent finding following initial coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination, but the frequency after COVID-19 booster vaccination is still unknown. In this study we compare axillary lymph node morphology on breast MRI before and after COVID-19 booster vaccination.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective, single-center, IRB-approved study included patients who underwent breast MRI between October 2021 and December 2021 after the COVID-19 booster vaccination.

Frequency and outcomes of MRI-detected axillary adenopathy following COVID-19 vaccination.

Objectives: To assess the frequency of ipsilateral axillary adenopathy on breast MRI after COVID-19 vaccination. To investigate the duration, outcomes, and associated variables of vaccine-related adenopathy.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, our database was queried for patients who underwent breast MRI following COVID-19 vaccination from January 22, 2021, to March 21, 2021.

Multidisciplinary Recommendations Regarding Post-Vaccine Adenopathy and Radiologic Imaging: Scientific Expert Panel.

Vaccination-associated adenopathy is a frequent imaging finding after administration of COVID-19 vaccines that may lead to a diagnostic conundrum in patients with manifest or suspected cancer, in whom it may be indistinguishable from malignant nodal involvement. To help the medical community address this concern in the absence of studies and evidence-based guidelines, this special report offers recommendations developed by a multidisciplinary panel of experts from three of the leading tertiary care cancer centers in the United States. According to these recommendations, some routine imaging examinations, such as those for screening, should be scheduled before or at least 6 weeks after the final vaccination dose to allow for any reactive adenopathy to resolve.

MRI appearance of invasive subcentimetre breast carcinoma: benign characteristics are common.

Objective: This study was undertaken to examine the characteristics of cancers detected at the earliest possible point on MRI and to determine their significance.

Methods: This institutional review board-approved Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant retrospective study evaluated invasive breast cancers ≤1 cm histologically. MRI was performed within 6 months before diagnosis.

Phase II trial of bicalutamide in patients with androgen receptor-positive, estrogen receptor-negative metastatic Breast Cancer.

Purpose: Patients with hormone receptor-negative breast cancer generally do not benefit from endocrine-targeted therapies. However, a subset with androgen receptor (AR) expression is predicted to respond to antiandrogen therapies. This phase II study explored bicalutamide in AR-positive, estrogen receptor (ER), and progesterone receptor (PgR)-negative metastatic breast cancer.

Phase II trial of a novel capecitabine dosing schedule in combination with lapatinib for the treatment of patients with HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.

Our group applied mathematical modeling to capecitabine dosing and predicted 7 days of treatment followed by 7 days of rest (7-7) would improve efficacy and minimize toxicity. The conventional schedule of capecitabine limits full dosing in combination with other agents due to toxicity. Lapatinib inhibits the tyrosine kinase of HER2 and has activity when added to conventionally scheduled capecitabine for the treatment of patients with trastuzumab-refractory, HER2-positive, metastatic breast cancer (MBC).

Phase I study of a novel capecitabine schedule based on the Norton-Simon mathematical model in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine, in patients with advanced-stage breast cancer, the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of capecitabine administered orally for 7 days followed by a 7-day rest (7/7), a schedule based on a mathematical method for the optimization of anticancer drug scheduling.

Patients And Methods: Eligible patients had measurable, metastatic breast cancer. There was no limit to number of prior treatments.

Mammary hibernoma.

We report the case of a 39-year-old asymptomatic woman who presented for screening mammography. Mammography revealed a round, partially circumscribed, partially indistinct, noncalcified 4.5 cm mass in upper outer right breast.

Clinical breast examination in a comprehensive breast cancer screening program: contribution and cost.

Purpose: To retrospectively evaluate the cost of clinical breast examination (CBE) and its contribution to screening mammography in the detection of breast cancer.

Materials And Methods: The study received a waiver of authorization from the institutional review board, informed patient consent was not required, and the study was compliant with HIPAA regulations. The records of 60 027 consecutive asymptomatic patients who underwent screening mammography were retrospectively reviewed.

Hibernoma: Report emphasizing large intratumoral vessels and high T1 signal.

We present the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging features of a gluteal hibernoma found incidentally at CT in an 80-year-old woman. Large, tortuous vessels were demonstrated within a high-T1-signal mass at MR imaging, a combination of findings in hibernomas that has been illustrated but not emphasized in the literature. Such a constellation of findings should strongly suggest the diagnosis of hibernoma (rather than well-differentiated liposarcoma or other soft tissue tumor).