A 50-year-old's digital mammogram, left, shows no problems. That same woman's MRI, right, shows what turned out to be an early cancer. The same spot showed up with experimental "molecular breast imaging," center, which Mayo Clinic researchers hope will prove to be cheaper and easier than MRI.

Enlarge By Fred Prouser, Reuters Actress Christina Applegate opted to have a double mastectomy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had an MRI and advocates them for other women. TESTS, CANCER AND AGE TESTS, CANCER AND AGE Percentage of U.S. women who had a mammogram in the previous two years: 40 to 49

• 2000: 64.2%

• 2005: 63.5% 50-64

• 2000: 78.6%

• 2005: 71.8% 65 and older

• 2000: 68%

• 2005: 63.8% Source: Cancer, 2007 Women born today in the USA have a 1 in 8 chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer at some point in their lives. That risk increases with age. • 30 to 39 years: 1 in 233

• 40 to 49: 1 in 69

• 50 to 59: 1 in 38

• 60 to 69: 1 in 27 Source: National Cancer Institute, 2007 A new breast cancer study raises a provocative question: Can you ever have too much information? The study focuses on MRIs, or magnetic resonance imaging, an ultra-sensitive scan given to more and more newly diagnosed breast cancer patients before surgery, says author Richard Bleicher, a breast cancer surgeon at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia. Doctors may perform the scans to get a better look at a patient's tumor than they could get with a mammogram or biopsy. HEALTH BLOG: Latest cancer studies FORUM: Living with cancer Although there's no evidence that MRIs improve a woman's odds of survival, Bleicher says the number of patients getting the scans before surgery at Fox Chase doubled from 2004 to 2006, to 27%. Yet the scans may create two potential problems, says Bleicher, who presented his study of 577 women today at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Washington. First, getting an MRI appears to delay the start of treatment by three weeks, he says. While waiting three weeks may not affect a woman's survival, it almost certainly adds to her anxiety, Bleicher says, especially if she spends a lot of that time getting additional tests. Second, women who have MRIs are more likely to get mastectomies, instead of breast-conserving lumpectomies, mostly because MRIs can pick up suspicious spots outside the original lump. A study presented earlier this year by Mayo Clinic doctors found the same trend.Yet Bleicher asks: Do doctors really need to find that additional cancer? STUDY: Women increasingly opt for mastectomy Studies have long shown that women are equally likely to survive, whether they have mastectomies or lumpectomies plus radiation, which can kill lingering cancer cells not removed through surgery, he says. He says he's concerned that mastectomy rates — which fell steadily for years as more women chose lumpectomies — are now rising again. Some of these mastectomies, he says, may be unnecessary. "We treated women perfectly well" before MRIs came along, Bleicher says. "Are we doing these women now a disservice? Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more