Radiology

Why Do Purely Intraductal Cancers Enhance on Breast MR Images?
Christiane K. Kuhl
Radiology 2009;253 281-283

Link to Journal

Diagnosis and treatment of high-grade DCIS can be considered primary prevention of high-grade invasive cancer.

Thus, we have reason to assume that screening with MR imaging would offer a mortality benefit that is higher than that achieved with mammographic screening, not only because of the higher overall sensitivity offered by MR imaging but also because of its bias for selectively depicting prognostically relevant disease

On the basis of the results of the animal study performed by Jansen et al and clinical observations, there is compelling evidence to suggest that the imaging phenotype of a ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) lesion (its detectability at mammography and MR imaging, specifically the presence or absence of calcifications on mammograms and the presence or absence of calcifications and the degree of their enhancement on MR images) conveys important biologic information that will be useful when guiding DCIS treatment.