Magnetic resonance in mammography: a quantitative evaluation tool of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance of the breast

摘要

Breast cancer is a major cause of death among women in most western countries. In Europe, more than 130, 000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed each year and US statistics show that breast carcinoma is the second cause of death for women cancer (1) and the most frequent cause of death in the age range 40-49 (2). The cumulative incidence of breast cancer from 0 up to 74 years is about 6 women out of 100. However, in the last two decades, a drop in breast cancer mortality was noticed, probably due to a true improvement in early diagnosis (3). Early diagnosis in breast cancer, in fact, has a fundamental impact on women quality of life for the following reasons: an increasing probability of recovery less invasive therapeutic events. Our aim had been to develop a tool for the quantitative evaluation of contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance of the breast, in order to improve early detection in breast cancer.