Breast conserving therapy and magnetic resonance imaging

Recently, breast conserving therapy has been widely accepted in our country. The extensive intraductal component (EIC) is a serious problem in breast conserving therapy, because it is well-known that EIC frequently causes locoregional recurrence in preserved breast parenchyma. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a useful method for detecting breast masses due to its excellent contrast resolution. We studied the application of MRI to detection of intraductal spread in twenty-two patients. All cases were revealed invasive cancer with intraductal spread by histopathological examination. MRI findings of intraductal spread can be divided into two major groups. One is daugter nodules or strand-like enhancement and the other is bridging enhancement. We also reffered to the preliminary study of MR-guiding transcutaneous aspiration biopsy of mammographically and clinically occult breast masses. (author)