Purpose
To examine the role of pre-operative magnetic resonance imaging (pMRI) on time to surgery and rates of re-operation and contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) using a population-based study of New Jersey breast cancer (BC) patients.
Methods
The study included 289 African-American and 320 white women who participated in the Breast Cancer Treatment Disparity Study and underwent breast surgery for newly diagnosed early stage BC between 2005 and 2010. Patients were identified through rapid case ascertainment by the New Jersey State Cancer Registry. Association between pMRI and time to surgery was examined using linear regression, and with re-operation and CPM using binomial regression.
Results
Half (49.9%) of the study population received pMRI, with higher use for whites compared to African-Americans (62.5% versus 37.5%). After adjusting for potential confounders, patients with pMRI than those without, experienced significantly longer time to initial surgery (geometric mean= 38.7 days; 95% confidence interval: 34.8, 43.0 versus 26.5 days; 95% confidence interval: 24.3, 29.0), significantly higher rate of CPM (relative risk [RR]= 1.82; 95% confidence interval: 1.06, 3.12), and non-significant lower rate of re-operation (RR= 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.54, 1.08).
Conclusions
pMRI was associated with significantly increased time to surgery and higher rate of CPM, but it did not affect the rate of re-operation. Physicians and patients should consider these findings when making surgical decisions based on pMRI findings.