Whole-body MRI including diffusion is a booming technique. Numerous studies have demonstrated its interest in metastatic cancers.~Breast cancers, especially hormone-sensitive ones, are very osteophilic and bones are the most frequent metastatic site. Other sites include the lungs, liver, pleura, distant lymph nodes, soft tissue and the central nervous system.~Metastasis are located exclusively in the bones in 30% of the cases. The most commonly affected bones include the axial skeleton, rich in hematopoietic bone marrow : column, pelvis, skull, ribs, clavicles, the proximal part of the femur and humerus. Five percent of breast cancers are directly metastatic and 20 to 30% of localized breast cancers progress to metastatic stage. This potentially affects a large number of patients, with a median survival of 30 to 36 months.Patients with bone metastases only have a better survival rate than others: 20% at 5 years. It is therefore important to use a reliable and reproducible examination for the monitoring of treatment response.~Apart from morphological criteria (lesion size and RECIST criteria), MRI provides quantitative functional criteria (diffusion and ADC values). According to a recent study, whole body MRI is as good as PET/CT and more effective than bone scintigraphy for the diagnosis of bone metastases for cancers of breast and prostate with a high metastatic risk. However, this is a preliminary study with a limited and heterogeneous cohort of patients.~Therefore, it seems appropriate to study the performance of whole body MRI in the pre-therapeutic assessment of breast cancer with a high risk for metastasis and the monitoring of metastatic breast cancer.
Whole-body MRI including diffusion is a booming technique. Numerous studies have demonstrated its interest in metastatic cancers. Breast cancers, especially hormone-sensitive ones, are very osteophilic and bones are the most frequent metastatic site.~Apart from morphological criteria (lesion size and RECIST criteria), MRI provides quantitative functional criteria (diffusion and ADC values). According to a recent study, whole body MRI is as good as PET/CT and more effective than bone scintigraphy for the diagnosis of bone metastases for cancers of breast and prostate with a high metastatic risk.~Therefore, it seems appropriate to study the performance of whole body MRI in the pre-therapeutic assessment of breast cancer with a high risk for metastasis and the monitoring of metastatic breast cancer.