A UK study is investigating whether Fast MRI scans can detect breast cancer earlier than mammograms in women with average breast density.
The Fast MRI Dyamond study will scan around 1,000 women aged 50 to 52 across six NHS sites including Cheltenham, Swindon and Truro over the next three and a half years.
The Fast MRI scan takes about three minutes and is designed to find cancers that might not be seen on standard mammograms. In women with average breast density – referring to how tissue appears on a scan – denser areas show up as white and can sometimes obscure tumours.
North Bristol NHS Trust is leading the study, which has received £1.36m in joint funding from the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.
Dr Lyn Jones, consultant radiologist and study lead, said: “We know that Fast MRI can find cancers earlier than mammograms for women with dense breasts.”
One participant is Diana Dalgliesh, whose sister Alison died in 2023 from breast cancer in her 40s. The disease had not been spotted on a mammogram carried out just months earlier.
Ms Dalgliesh, who works at Southmead Hospital, said: “Her breast cancer was not picked up on a mammogram which she’d had only a few months before her diagnosis.
“Perhaps if there had been a different way of screening it might have been [picked up], so I thought if I am able to have an MRI scan, it may detect things earlier than if I just had a mammogram alone.”
She added: “I know the type of cancer she had is more easily seen on an MRI than a mammogram, whether it would have changed the outcome I don’t know.”
At ages 50 to 52, breast scans can show tissue ranging from completely white to dark, depending on mammographic density. These differences can make it harder to detect small cancers.
Fast MRI is a shortened version of a standard breast MRI scan. It has already been shown to detect aggressive cancers under 1cm in women with dense breasts. Unlike mammograms, it does not involve breast compression or radiation.
This is the first study in the UK to offer breast MRI scans to women with average breast density as part of their routine screening.
Janice Rose from Independent Cancer Patients’ Voice, a patient advocate group, said Fast MRI “could have a huge benefit to women entering the screening programme”.
“Early diagnosis for breast cancer gives women the best possible outcome,” she added.
Currently, the NHS Breast Screening Programme offers mammograms every three years to women aged 50 to 70, and is estimated to save around 1,300 lives annually through early detection.
