MRI scan for women with dense breast tissue one step closer

MRI scans for women with dense breast tissue will be included in mass screenings for breast cancer following a feasibility study by public health organization RIVM, caretaker junior health minister Judith Tielen has said in a briefing to MPs.

One in 12 women between 50 and 70 who participate in the mass screening has dense breast tissue. They are at greater risk of developing tumors, but detection is more difficult, putting them at greater risk of advanced breast cancer.

An MRI scan would detect tumors in an earlier stage, reducing the need for treatment and deaths.

After protests following an initial negative recommendation from the health council and a subsequent timeline for its introduction of 10 years, the RIVM has come up with several options to speed up the process.

One is a scheme to be implemented within three years, while others would take up to six years to come into effect.

The quickest route would be to measure breast tissue density in mobile labs, with additional scans carried out in hospitals and independent clinics.

Breast cancer charity Breast cancer association Netherlands backs this idea, even though women would have to pay via their health insurance own risk. “It is the most practical way of giving women with dense breast tissue access to an additional MRI scan in case their results are not clear,” charity director Cristina Guerrero Paz told broadcaster NOS.

A longer route of four to five years, backed by the RIVM, would include time to better train hospital radiologists. According to Patricia Hugen, program manager of mass screenings for cancer at the RIVM, radiologists are currently trained to look at MRIs when there is already a suspicion of cancer. This is different and it is important that they make the right call and not issue unnecessary referrals,” she said.

Had the results of an earlier study into the efficacy of scans in 2020 been picked up, implementation could have been that much faster, radiologist and RIVM researcher Wouter Veldhuis said. “Now is important to take action and follow up quickly but not compromise quality,” he said,

Tielen said she will announce which scenario will be chosen in the coming days. It will also become clear if all women will be informed if they have dense breast tissue or not as part of the screening