Heterogeneous Enhancement Patterns of Tumor-adjacent Parenchyma at MR Imaging Are Associated with Dysregulated Signaling Pathways and Poor Survival in Breast Cancer

Radiology. 2017 Nov;285(2):401-413. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2017162823. Epub 2017 Jul 14.

Abstract

Purpose To identify the molecular basis of quantitative imaging characteristics of tumor-adjacent parenchyma at dynamic contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and to evaluate their prognostic value in breast cancer. Materials and Methods In this institutional review board-approved, HIPAA-compliant study, 10 quantitative imaging features depicting tumor-adjacent parenchymal enhancement patterns were extracted and screened for prognostic features in a discovery cohort of 60 patients. By using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), a radiogenomic map for the tumor-adjacent parenchymal tissue was created and molecular pathways associated with prognostic parenchymal imaging features were identified. Furthermore, a multigene signature of the parenchymal imaging feature was built in a training cohort (n = 126), and its prognostic relevance was evaluated in two independent cohorts (n = 879 and 159). Results One image feature measuring heterogeneity (ie, information measure of correlation) was significantly associated with prognosis (false-discovery rate < 0.1), and at a cutoff of 0.57 stratified patients into two groups with different recurrence-free survival rates (log-rank P = .024). The tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway was identified as the top enriched pathway (hypergeometric P < .0001) among genes associated with the image feature. A 73-gene signature based on the tumor profiles in TCGA achieved good association with the tumor-adjacent parenchymal image feature (R2 = 0.873), which stratified patients into groups regarding recurrence-free survival (log-rank P = .029) and overall survival (log-rank P = .042) in an independent TCGA cohort. The prognostic value was confirmed in another independent cohort (Gene Expression Omnibus GSE 1456), with log-rank P = .00058 for recurrence-free survival and log-rank P = .0026 for overall survival. Conclusion Heterogeneous enhancement patterns of tumor-adjacent parenchyma at MR imaging are associated with the tumor necrosis signaling pathway and poor survival in breast cancer. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / analysis
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / genetics
  • Biomarkers, Tumor / metabolism
  • Breast Neoplasms / chemistry
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Breast Neoplasms / genetics
  • Breast Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Female
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Genomics
  • Humans
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted*
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Imaging
  • Parenchymal Tissue / chemistry
  • Parenchymal Tissue / diagnostic imaging*
  • Prognosis
  • Signal Transduction

Substances

  • Biomarkers, Tumor