MRI whole-body Imaging

One practitioners thoughts on MRI whole-body scanning for disease detection…

The age old adage in medicine is we have to weigh the benefits to harm. As a provider working in oncology my entire career this is the motto we live by. There is risk in almost every medical intervention and that includes routine cancer screening.

The recently celebrity touted whole-body MRI is no exception to the rule. What could possibly be the draw back? It’s a contrast free magnetic powered imaging machine that leaves the patient without exposure to dangerous radiation. But like all routine cancer screening there are risks and the false positive rates are high. A study reviewing almost 6,000 cases of individuals undergoing whole-body MRI for preventative screening had a 16% false positive rate. What happens after someone is falsely diagnosed with an abnormality on a radiation free scan? They buy themselves a trip to a scan utilizing radiation and or nuclear dyes for better visualization of the abnormal finding. Not to mention the days to weeks of anxiously waiting for answers.

Another study with over 6000 patients reported 95% abnormal results, 30% requiring additional intervention with more invasive procedures and just 1.1% cancer diagnosis. You might be thinking but what about the 1.1%, and unfortunately these cancer detections may not have been found in an early stage meaning survival rates may not have been affected.

The reason these scans are not covered by insurance is because they have not been proven to provide an increase in overall survival, the standard used to determine if a routine health screen will be made mainstream.

Lastly, the rate at which cancer or precancerous cells grow is not constant. Whole-body imaging provides a snapshot of our body at a particular time. No guidelines exist on how often whole-body MRI imaging should be performed. An individual could in theory develop a cancer soon after a scan. My fear would be ignoring signs of cancer due to a false sense of security the scan may be providing.

I have not personally ruled out the idea of using whole-body MRI in my wellness journey but we still have a lot of work to do. AI powered technology is currently being studied to better diagnose abnormalities on scans and cut down on false positives. The cost of these scans should, like most medical interventions, become cheaper over time. I’ll be following The College for Preventative Medicine, a well established professional society, to see if the research proves benefit in routine whole-body scans for disease prevention.

Disclaimer: This article focuses only on the use of whole-body MRI screening in healthy individuals with out genetic predispositions to the development of cancers.

The information provided in this article is for educational and entertainment purposes only. This is not a substitute for professional medical advice or consultation with a healthcare provider.

Resources:

Kwee RM, Kwee TC. Whole-body MRI for preventive health screening: A systematic review of the literature. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2019 Nov;50(5):1489-1503. doi: 10.1002/jmri.26736. Epub 2019 Apr 1. PMID: 30932247; PMCID: PMC6850647.

Zugni, F., Padhani, A.R., Koh, DM. et al. Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) for cancer screening in asymptomatic subjects of the general population: review and recommendations. Cancer Imaging 20, 34 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40644-020-00315-0

Hi, Im Erin

I’m Erin, a hematology/oncology Nurse Practitioner with 10+ years of cancer care under my belt. I have a passion for working in the oncology space but knew we were missing something. After years of working with patients looking for more answers than the standardized cancer care provided; I felt I could help bridge the gap. Along with the work I do for my patients, I became increasingly interested in cancer prevention, longevity, and health optimization. I knew there was a way to streamline health maintenance and provide resources for individuals looking for the answers to overall wellness. Minimalistic Medicine is a place where we explore data, research, and resources to help streamline your wellness journey.