Dr. Habib Rahbar on abbreviated breast MRI for screening

A new research study published in JAMA compared abbreviated breast MRI (AB-MR) – a faster, more targeted version of MRI – with digital breast tomosynthesis, also known as 3-D mammography,  for breast cancer screening in women with dense breasts.  Habib Rahbar, MD, was the Principal Investigator for the Fred Hutch / University of Washington Cancer Consortium in this multi-site trial, which included 47 institutions in the U.S. and one in Germany, included nearly 1,500 women, ages 40 to 75.

“Abbreviated MRI caught over two times more cancers. That’s very, very promising,” said Rahbar.  “There’s little question in my mind that we’ll see increased use of AB-MRI in response to this study. But before we recommend it for general use, some additional issues like cost need to be worked out.”

You can read the entire article on Fred Hutch’s website here.