Synthetic MRI with quantitative mappings for identifying receptor status, proliferation rate, and molecular subtypes of breast cancer

Weibo Gao; Quanxin Yang; Xiaohui Li; Xin Chen; Xiaocheng Wei; Yan Diao; Yanyan Zhang; Chunni Chen; Baobin Guo; Youren Wang; Zhe Lei; Shuqun Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110168

Synthetic MRI with quantitative mappings for identifying receptor status, proliferation rate, and molecular subtypes of breast cancer

Eur J Radiol. 2022 Mar:148:110168. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110168. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

Authors

Weibo Gao¹, Quanxin Yang¹, Xiaohui Li¹, Xin Chen¹, Xiaocheng Wei², Yan Diao³, Yanyan Zhang¹, Chunni Chen⁴, Baobin Guo¹, Youren Wang¹, Zhe Lei¹, Shuqun Zhang⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
² GE Healthcare, MR Research, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
⁵ Department of Oncology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. Electronic address: shuqun_zhang1971@163.com.

PMID: 35078137
DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110168

Abstract

Objective: To investigate whether quantitative parameters of synthetic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to differentiate among receptor status, proliferation rate, and molecular subtypes in patients with breast cancer.

Materials and methods: This retrospective study included patients with suspicious breast lesions who underwent breast MR examinations (including synthetic MRI) from May 2019 to Oct 2020. Quantitative parameters of synthetic MRI, including T1, T2, and proton density (PD) in the breast lesions before and after (T1-Gd, T2-Gd, and PD-Gd) contrast agent injection were obtained. The Wilcoxon rank sum was utilized to analyze the differences between the parameters and receptor status, proliferation rate, Luminal A/B, TN, and HER2-enriched. The Spearman's rank correlation test was used to analyze association between parameters among five molecular subtypes.

Results: 115 patients who met the inclusion criteria were included. Quantitative T1, T2, PD, and T2-Gd can be used as imaging biomarkers for the different receptor status and proliferation rate of breast cancer. Among them, T2 and T2-Gd were significantly different in the molecular subtypes (P = 0.000 and P = 0.006, respectively) and can further differentiate luminal A/B breast cancers from non-luminal subtypes (P = 0.005 and P = 0.015, respectively). T1 and T2 were significantly different between triple negative (TN) and non-TN breast cancers (P = 0.004 and P = 0.024, respectively). T2 and T2-Gd values were lower for luminal A/B tumors (79.5 ms and 68.00 ms, respectively) and higher for non-luminal tumors (84.00 ms and 75.00 ms, respectively). T1 and T2 values were higher for TN tumors (1.54 × 10³ms and 84.00 ms, respectively) and lower for non-TN tumors (1.39 × 10³ ms and 80.00 ms, respectively).

Conclusion: Quantitative parameters derived from synthetic MRI mappings may provide a non-invasive biomarker for discriminating receptor status, proliferation rate, and molecular subtypes in patients with breast cancer.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Molecular subtype; Proliferation rate; Receptor status; Synthetic magnetic resonance imaging.

MeSH terms

Breast / pathology
Breast Neoplasms* / diagnostic imaging
Breast Neoplasms* / pathology
Cell Proliferation
Female
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
Retrospective Studies