At 41, Tricia was managing the delicate balance of a busy career, married life and the challenges of raising three children under 10. There was no time to be sick, much less have breast cancer. So, when she felt, and then didn’t feel, and then felt again a small bump on her left breast she refused to acknowledge it was something. Days later she found it again and started to panic.
As luck would have it, she was seeing her primary care physician (PCP) the next day. Despite not being able to feel the lump herself the PCP recommended a mammogram which would be Tricia’s first.
Mammogram and breast ultrasound fail to answer "Do I have breast cancer?"
"They can’t see it on the picture," she told her husband when he called to check in after her mammogram. "They’re doing an ultrasound in a few minutes, they seemed pretty confident they would figure it out."
Unfortunately, the ultrasound led to more uncertainty, as it did not identify a lesion and Tricia was scheduled for a breast MRI two weeks later. "Those were the longest two weeks of my life," said Tricia. "I was fine until I started googling things, I had myself convinced that I had breast cancer and was going to die. I started keeping a diary so my kids would know who I was".
Walking into the MRI department Tricia’s one thought was, "please give me an answer." Acknowledging the possibility of cancer, she wanted to move forward with whatever treatment lay ahead. It was the unknown that weighed heavily on her.
Pinpointing the area of concern with breast MRI
The technologist explained how they do a breast MRI. Face down, body parts fitting into holes in the table, an IV, and headphones. The tech asked Tricia to show her where the lump was located. Despite trying, the technologist could not feel the lump even though Tricia could. The tech explained that she had a special marker that would show the radiologist exactly where
to look.
An hour later Tricia was sitting with the radiologist and there it was, right below the marker – a bright little spot that needed a biopsy. After another ultrasound it was back to MRI to get an answer. And what a wonderful answer it was – negative for cancer.
We interviewed Tricia as part of a patient exploratory on the state of breast MRI and were thrilled to hear her reaction to the skin marker that was placed on her breast. Tricia said she was relieved to see they had a specific device that would show the radiologist exactly where she felt the lump. Especially important since no one else seemed to be able to feel it. "I knew they meant business when they pulled out Mister Spot!" A funny interpretation of our brand name, MR-SPOT®.
The state of breast MRI in the United States
In a recent survey1 of mammography centers in the U.S., 60% of facilities offer ultrasound as a secondary screening method when mammography alone is not definitive. 33% of facilities offer breast MRI as a secondary screening tool, and that number is growing. Abbreviated breast MRI for initial screening is still a work in progress as protocols are being refined to both decrease the cost and time to acquire the images2.
The MRI marker used on Tricia was specifically designed with breast MRI in mind. The liquid inside the marker will show on all pulse sequences, especially those sequences where breast pathology is typically seen. The marker also has a slim design which prevents any mass distorting indentation that can alter the appearance of the mass3.
To learn more about Beekley’s full line of MR-SPOT® visit beekley.com or contact your account manager at 1.800.233.5539.
References
1. C. O’Flaherty. Beekley Medical Customer Survey 2023
2. R. Foster. ABMR: The Future of Breast Cancer Screening? 2018
3. R. Foster. Best Practices with Skin Markers in Breast MRI 2018
Rich Foster
