Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium MRIs Meet Most BI-RADS Benchmarks

The interpretative performance of screening MRI in the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) meets most Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) benchmarks and approaches benchmark levels for remaining measures, according to a study published in Radiology.

Researchers from several states sought to compare screening MRI performance in the BCSC with BI-RADS benchmarks. They collected data from 5,343 women (8,387 MR examinations) linked to regional Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program registries, state tumor registries, and pathologic information databases that identified breast cancer cases and tumor characteristics. The researchers assessed clinical, demographic, and imaging characteristics, and performance measures were calculated according to BI-RADS fifth edition, including cancer detection rate (CDR), positive predictive value of biopsy recommendation (PPV₂), sensitivity, and specificity. The median patient age was 52.

The results showed that 52% of MR examinations were performed in women with a first-degree family history of breast cancer, 46% in women with a personal history of breast cancer, and 15% in women with both risk factors. Screening MRI depicted 146 cancers, and 35 interval cancers were identified. There were 181 total-54 in situ, 125 invasive, and two status unknown. The median tumor size of invasive cancers was 10 mm; 88% were node negative.

The researchers concluded that clinical practice performance data can inform ongoing benchmark development and help identify areas for quality improvement.