Credit:
Conventional Mammography (on the left) Computer Enhanced Breast MRI (on the right) One-third of breast cancer cases have multiple lesions which are undetected with mammography alone. The mammogram of a sixty-year-old woman shows a mass in her left breast, while her right breast appears to be disease free. A lumpectomy to remove the tumor in her left breast was planned and a pre-operative MRI was also scheduled. As shown in the image on the right, the computer-enhanced MRI detected two unsuspected additional masses (circled in photo) in the patient's right breast. Radiologists can view malignancies in much greater detail with the MRI as opposed to just the mass seen on this mammogram. The MRI also displays the behavior of the cancerous lesion in real-time, giving the physician a four dimensional look at the tumor. Based on this sensitive MRI imaging technique, a double mastectomy was performed on this patient, most likely saving her life.