A new study has shown that magnetic resonance imaging scans (MRIs) were more effective at detecting early stages of breast cancer than traditional mammograms.

The research, published in the Lancet medical journal, found that 92 per cent of cases of early breast cancer were detected by the MRI scan, whereas only 56 per cent of cases were detected by the mammogram.

At a national breast centre in Germany, the researchers analysed MRIs carried out for women who were at an increased risk of breast cancer, had an abnormal mammogram, or had a normal mammogram but were particularly concerned about breast cancer.

Cancer Research UK’s professor of screening Stephen Duffy welcomed the research: “The results are interesting and add weight to the findings of a UK study published in 2005 which found MRI to be more sensitive than mammography to invasive cancers in women at high genetic risk.”

However, he called for further studies to be conducted before conclusive results could be drawn: “While this study provides further evidence of the benefit of MRI examinations in high-risk women, none of these studies has concluded that MRI should replace mammography. The consensus is that they should be used in tandem for high-risk women.”

The drug sildenafil, better known as Viagra has been shown in mice to support the immune system’s response to cancer cells. Mice with colon and breast tumors showed that the tumor size decreased two and threefold when treated with sildenafil compared with the mice that did not receive the drug. The researchers also believe that they have evidence that sildenafil is effective on the immune system because in mice engineered to lack an immune system the tumors were unaffected. Tissue samples taken from head and neck cancer and multiple myeloma patients showed similar results.Viagra is a class of drugs used to treat impotence. It is known to stimulate nitric oxide which hinder the effects of a specialized cell that can divert the immune system away from the tumor. The researchers are trying to figure out how cancer cells can avoid detection by the immune system. T-cells that mount the attack on cancer cells are manipulated by the cancer cells and prevent them from being seen by the immune system. Viagra can unmask the cancer cells and let the immune system recognize and attack them.