Associations Between Dynamic Contrast Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Clinically Relevant Histopathological Features in Breast Cancer: A Multicenter Analysis.

BACKGROUND/AIM: To provide data regarding relationships between quantitative dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE MRI) and prognostic factors in breast cancer (BC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Data from 4 Centers (200 female patients, mean age, 51.2±11.5 years) were acquired. The following data were collected: histopathological diagnosis, tumor grade, stage, hormone receptor status, KI 67, and DCE MRI values including K (volume transfer constant), V (volume of the extravascular extracellular leakage space (EES) and K (diffusion of contrast medium from the EES back to the plasma). DCE MRI values between different groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U-test and by the Kruskal-Wallis H test. The association between DCE MRI and Ki 67 values was calculated by the Spearman's rank correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

DCE MRI values of different tumor subtypes overlapped significantly. There were no statistically significant differences of DCE MRI values between different tumor grades. All DCE MRI parameters correlated with KI-67: K, r=0.44, p=0.0001; V, r=0.34, p=0.0001; K, r=0.28, p=0.002. ROC analysis identified a K threshold of 0.3 min for discrimination of tumors with low KI-67 expression (<25%) and high KI-67 expression (≥25%): sensitivity, 75.5%, specificity, 73.0%, accuracy, 74.0%, AUC, 0.78. DCE MRI values overlapped between tumors with different T and N stages.

CONCLUSION

K, K, and V cannot be used as reliable a surrogate marker for hormone receptor status, tumor stage and grade in BC. K may discriminate lesions with high and lower proliferation activity.