Medanta launches MRI guided Vacuum assisted Breast Biopsy in India

The treatment ensures 99% scar free detection and removal of breast cancer tumor. This new technology saves women from breast amputation and other causalities related to cancer, as early diagnosis is now made possible.

Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Naresh Trehan, Founder and Chairman, Medanta-The Medicity said, “We are proud to bring yet another ground-breaking technology to India that relieves 49% of our population from the fear of after-effects of the breast cancer detection process. Women in India now have access to the international grade technology that delivers scar free detection and treatment of breast cancer.”

Also known as MRI guided Vacuum assisted Breast Biopsy (VABB), the technology is a generational leap over the earlier technology. It offers very early diagnosis of really small abnormalities (as small as 1-2mm) not visualized on ultrasound or mammography and only visible on MRI.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has predicted that by 2020, one in eight urban Indian women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime. Presently, one in four female cancer cases are breast cancers.

The disease is being prevalent in India, claiming one in 28 urban women as victims. This alarming rate has led to scare among many women, while detection at an early stage was not possible till date as there was no equipment to reliably sample and hence diagnose small abnormalities spotted on the breast MRI.

Dr. Jyoti Arora, who is a leading breast interventional radiologist in India and Sr. Consultant Radiologist at Medanta the Medicity is a frequent user of this technology and she says “this technology currently is the last stop for breast biopsy and is recommended specifically for difficult lesions when we can’t target them under other modalities like ultrasound and mammography. VABB technology increases the efficiency, accuracy and eases of targeting these breast lesions and is the standard of care in the Western world.”

Non-availability of a MRI compatible equipment resulted in delayed diagnosis and hence treatment or in a high risk category (genetically prone or recurrence), the option was to remove a large area or the whole of the breast completely in order to remove that tiny abnormality. Many a times the final results would yield a non-cancerous pathology, which would mean an unnecessary surgery.

“This technology is now being used to remove small benign (non-cancerous) breast lumps after careful patient selection. The whole procedure can be done under local anesthetic as an OPD procedure. The major advantages are: It is scar free, with quick healing time and no risk of general anesthesia,” Dr.Arora added.