Study challenges routine use of MRI scans to evaluate breast cancer

A new study suggests women with newly-diagnosed breast cancer who receive an MRI after their diagnosis face delays in starting treatment and are more likely to receive a mastectomy. The study, presented today at the 2008 ASCO Breast Cancer Symposium, also shows that despite lack of evidence of their benefit, the routine use of MRI scans in women newly diagnosed increased significantly between 2004 and 2005, and again in 2006.