The purpose of this study is to provide physicians with additional information not available with standard imaging methods for breast disease.

As part of the MRI examination ordered by your physician, a new method of analyzing the images or pictures will be used. This new method is called spectroscopy and is used routinely on other parts of the body such as the prostate and brain. Pictures produced with this sequence may look slightly different than the regular MRI pictures. Using spectroscopy data, it may be possible to distinguish benign conditions of the breast from malignant tumors and provide more precise information than can be obtained with regular MRI.

Our aim is to perform MR Spectroscopy (MRS) on 150 evaluable patients at the end of their routine breast MRI examination using a software package from General Electric Medical Systems Milwaukee, WI). This will add time to the routine examination but will not involve additional injections of contrast. We will analyze the spectroscopic data to determine if benign lesions can be reliably differentiated from malignant ones.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Scheduled for diagnostic breast MRI examination or interventional procedure for a known or suspected breast lesion

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who would be normally excluded from undergoing an MRI examination:

  • Patients with a pacemaker, aneurysm clip or any other condition that would warrant avoidance of a strong magnetic field