MRI Screening for Breast Cancer Could Benefit High-Risk Women who Lack Insurance
Although an MRI screening can be expensive, it has been shown to be beneficial and cost effective for women at high risk of breast cancer who have little or no insurance, researchers
MRI Screening for Breast Cancer Could Benefit High-Risk Women who Lack Insurance
Although an MRI screening can be expensive, it has been shown to be beneficial and cost effective for women at high risk of breast cancer who have little or no insurance, researchers at Duke University Medical Center report.
The researchers, who are presenting their findings at a health disparities conference held by the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington, DC, said the findings could help ease breast cancer disparities among underserved women.
"Early detection and treatment of breast cancer in these high-risk women are important goals, particularly if we can find a cost-effective way of achieving them," said Anne C. Ford, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University Medical Center and lead author of the study. "By catching these tumors early, treatment may be less expensive than for advanced disease."
A problem that persists in the fight against breast cancer is the disparity in death rates between blacks and whites. While African-American women are diagnosed with the disease less often, they have a disproportionately higher death rate.
Better screening programs could help by catching breast cancer tumors earlier, before they become lethal and spread.
For the Duke screening trial, a team called patient navigators went into low-income communities around Durham, NC. The navigators identified women with no health insurance or limited policies, and provided them information about breast cancer prevention and treatment.
The patients were then separated into two groups based on known breast cancer risk factors, including close family members who had been diagnosed with the disease.
Nearly 300 women -- 33 percent African-American -- who met the criteria for high risk were given magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screenings. The technology is expensive, but can be more sensitive, particularly among younger women who have denser breast tissue that can pose a challenge to mammography.
Another 299 women were considered normal risk, and got traditional, less costly mammograms. Of the normal risk group, 40 percent were African-American.
Among the normal-risk trial participants, mammography detected one 