Non-contrast DWI for Supplemental Screening

Brief Summary

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is a short (under 5 minutes) non-contrast MRI technique that has shown promise for the detection and characterization of breast cancer. Our preliminary data has shown that DWI holds potential for detecting mammographically and clinically-occult breast cancers. However, current technical limitations reduce the sensitivity of DWI for screening applications. The identification of a screening tool to complement mammography that is more accurate than ultrasound and faster, less expensive, and safer than conventional contrast-enhanced MRI would have significant clinical impact by improving the early detection of cancer in women with dense breasts. We hypothesize that an optimized DWI approach will enable detection of mammographically occult breast cancer in women with dense breasts with high sensitivity and low false positive rate.