Calgary clinic offering private breast MRIs

CALGARY – Lynn Kostenuk has only been getting annual mammograms since she was diagnosed with stage two breast cancer. She underwent aggressive chemotherapy and a stem cell treatment – she has now been cancer free for almost 11 years.

But she still knows how important it is to get checked regularly and feels a breast MRI would be a smart choice.

“I think they should utilize it while it’s available. It’s something new, something that’s come into being since I first went through my treatment.”

Mayfair Diagnostics is the first in Calgary to offer private MRI’s for preventative breast cancer screening.

It’s a relatively new technology compared to mammograms, which have been around for decades.

Dr. Stephen Valentine, radiologist and co-director of Mayfair Diagnostics says MRI screenings are the absolute best way to detect breast cancer because they are far more detailed than a mammogram.

“It’s analogous to looking at a slice of raisin bread, slice by slice,” says Dr. Valentine.

“Identifying the raisins within the bread, rather than compressing the entire loaf and taking a picture of it.”

Dr. Valentine says women who will benefit the most from the MRI are those who’ve had breast cancer or a close relative who has suffered from it, or those who have radiation treatment in the past.

The MRI’s cost around $1,000 and patients need to be referred by their doctors. However, you will get a timely, publicly funding breast MRI if you’re at a high risk for breast cancer or you have a lump.

“Screening recommendations right now are that this technology should be focused on those high risk patients,” says Dr. Bobbie Docktor, Alberta Health Services Radiologist.

Dr. Docktor says the MRI is not appropriate for everyone because in some ways it’s too sensitive.

“If you start screen en masse, women at baseline population risk, you’re going to end up with a lot of biopsy recommendations and follow up MRI recommendations for benign findings, not for cancer.”

Docktor also says an unnecessary MRI can cause unneeded discomfort and anxiety for some.

But for patients like Lynn, an MRI makes sense.

“It’s another valuable tool for woman to make sure everything’s working well.”

Alberta Health Services says the cost of offering breast MRI’s for annual screening instead of mammograms would be prohibitive. High risk women or those with new lumps are usually sent for both.