During the past year, several articles have been published regarding the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as an adjunct to mammography to screen women who are considered to be at high risk for developing breast cancer.

At the request of MCC member organizations and in keeping with MCC's mission of providing a "conscientious response to evolving scientific knowledge," the MCC Board of Directors asked members of the MCC Breast Cancer Advisory Committee to develop two position papers to provide information to assist health care providers and health care consumers in making informed decisions on the use of MRI and other screening modalities to detect breast cancer in high-risk women.

The MCC Board reviewed and approved both of these papers at their June 2005 meeting.

The Information for Providers paper provides an evidence-based overview of the MCC breast cancer screening recommendations for high-risk women and the benefits and limitations of MRI, whole breast ultrasound screening, and other imaging technologies. It includes the references reviewed to identify the evidence upon which the MCC position on this subject is based.

The Information for Consumers paper is a two-page handout that is in an easier-to-read, question-and-answer format. It addresses frequently asked questions women may have about their risk for breast cancer and screening tests in addition to mammography.

We encourage all MCC member organizations and other interested parties to copy and distribute these resources within their organizations and also to use their organizations' communication channels to distribute the recommendations to others who would benefit from them.

• Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations for High-Risk Women (MCC Information for Providers paper, with specific references used in developing these recommendations; June 2005) (available as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file)*

• Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations for High-Risk Women (MCC Information for Consumers paper; June 2005) (available as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file)*

Our thanks to the members of the MCC Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Workgroup for their work in devleoping these resources.

To Learn More
For more information about these recommendations, contact Michigan Department of Community Health Oncology Nurse Consultant E.J. Siegl, MA, OCN, RN, who staffed this project for the MCC (phone: 517-335-8814; e-mail: sieglej@michigan.gov).

*Please Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open, view and print this file once it has been downloaded. If you need a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader, please click here.

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last updated: 07/04/05

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