title: Emerging technologies in surgical planning for breast cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Computer-assisted diagnosis (CAD) has been applied to mammography and chest radiography to improve diagnostic accuracy, and has the potential to improve the accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for detecting nodal metastases in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six women with newly diagnosed breast cancer underwent MRI of the breast and axilla. Radiologists applied digital tissue recognition (DTR), a form of CAD, to the MR images to detect nodal metastases. The results were compared with clinical staging and to surgical pathology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The accuracy of clinical staging for the 6 subjects was 3 of 6 (50%), and with DTR-MRI it rose to 6 of 6 (100%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DTR-MRI is a potential method for noninvasively detecting axillary nodal involvement in women with newly diagnosed breast carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: First Hill Diagnostic Imaging, Seattle Surgical Group, and Washington Pathology Consultants, Seattle, WA 98104, USA. jpsmith@firsthill.com
authors.forename: Justin P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Porter
authors.forename: Ron J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Tickman
mesh_terms: D001365:Axilla; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging