Evaluate abnormalities detected by mammography

• Identify early breast cancer not detected through other means, especially in women with dense breast tissue and those at high risk for the disease
• Screen for cancer in women who have implants or scar tissue that might jeopardize an accurate result from a mammogram
• Determine the integrity of breast implants
• Distinguish between scar tissue and recurrent tumors
• Assess multiple tumor locations
• Look for multiple tumors prior to breast reconstruction surgery
• Determine whether cancer detected by mammography or ultrasound has spread further in the breast or into the chest wall
• Determine how much cancer has spread beyond the surgical site after a breast biopsy or lumpectomy
• Provide additional information on a diseased breast to make treatment decisions

Without contrast material, an MRI of the breast can show:

• Breast tissue density
• Cysts
• Enlarged ducts
• Hematomas
• Leaking or ruptured breast implants

By comparing breast images taken before and after contrast material injection, an MRI of the breast can determine:

• If there are breast abnormalities
• Whether an abnormality looks benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous)
• The size and location of any abnormality that looks malignant
• The presence of enlarged lymph nodes

Breast MRIs should always supplement, not replace, standard screening and diagnostic procedures such as clinical and self-exams, as well as mammograms.