Head-to-head comparison of contrast-enhanced mammography and contrast-enhanced MRI for assessing pathological complete response to neoadjuvant therapy in patients with breast cancer: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Objective: Breast cancer patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy (NAT) are in need of a more patient-friendly imaging modality such as contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) for monitoring therapy response. The purpose of this study was to conduct a meta-analysis to compare the diagnostic performances of CEM and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) for assessing pathological complete response (pCR) in these patients.

Methods: The PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane Library databases were searched through March 2023 to identify studies reporting a head-to-head comparison of CEM and CE-MRI in detecting pCR in breast cancer patients receiving NAT. Pooled diagnostic performance was calculated using a bivariate random-effects model, and an AUC was derived for each test from hierarchic summary ROC analysis.

Results: Six studies with 328 patients were included. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) were 93% (95% CI 84-97%), 68% (95% CI 60-76%), and 29.29 (95% CI 11.41-75.18) for CEM versus 84% (95% CI 62-95%), 80% (95% CI 71-87%), and 21.39 (95% CI 5.94-77.13) for CE-MRI. The AUC was 0.85 (95% CI 0.82-0.88) for CEM and 0.85 (95% CI 0.82-0.88) for CE-MRI.

Conclusion: This meta-analysis of head-to-head comparison studies showed that CEM provides an equivalent diagnostic accuracy to CE-MRI in identification of pCR in breast cancer patients receiving NAT. The results support the increasing use of CEM in this setting and would encourage future studies to validate CEM as a suitable replacement for MRI.

Keywords: Breast cancer; Contrast-enhanced mammography; Head-to-head comparison; MRI; Neoadjuvant therapy.