The preoperative staging of breast carcinoma determines the type of surgery. Mammography and echography are considered standard. Even though, breast MRI shows better performance for evaluation of the size of the tumor and for detection of additional foci of the tumor. Breast MRI appears to lead to more extensive surgery or increased numbers of mastectomy. But it remains unclear whether breast MRI contributes to reduce positive surgical margins, local recurrences and whether it increases survival. Because of the low predictive positive value, every MRI finding should be confirmed by core needle biopsy. PET-CT has the best sensibility for the detection of distant metastasis but should only be used in very high risk patients.