Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses magnetic fields instead of X rays to show very clear breast images and tumor size.
MRI is not used for every patient but may be needed to check:
Imaging for breast cancer may also be done while you are lying on your abdomen.61
You have to lie on your abdomen and still in an enclosed machine for an MRI. This may bother people who are afraid of small spaces. It may be possible to use an open MRI machine. Ask your health care providers if this is an option.
An MRI may help find early invasive hereditary breast cancer. Women who are at high risk for breast cancer, such as those who have a parent, sibling, or child with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation, may be recommended to have an MRI and a mammogram every year. A mammogram may be less sensitive than MRI in finding breast cancer for women with the mutation.28