Optimizing surgical strategy in locally advanced breast cancer: a comparative analysis between preoperative MRI and postoperative pathology after neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Abstract

Purpose: In the treatment of breast cancer, neo-adjuvant chemotherapy is often used as systemic treatment followed by tumor excision. In this context, planning the operation with regard to excision margins relies on tumor size measured by MRI. The actual tumor size can be determined through pathologic evaluation. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation and agreement between pre-operative MRI and postoperative pathological evaluation.

Methods: One hundred and ninety-three breast cancer patients that underwent neo-adjuvant chemotherapy and subsequent breast surgery were retrospectively included between January 2013 and July 2016. Preoperative tumor diameters determined with MRI were compared with postoperative tumor diameters determined by pathological analysis. Spearman correlation and Bland-Altman agreement methods were used. Results were subjected to subgroup analysis based on histological subtype (ER, HER2, ductal, lobular).

Results: The correlation between tumor size at MRI and pathology was 0.63 for the whole group, 0.39 for subtype ER + /HER2-, 0.51 for ER + /HER2 + , 0.63 for ER-/HER2 +, and 0.85 for ER-/HER2-. The mean difference and limits of agreement (LoA) between tumor size measured MRI vs. pathological assessment was 4.6 mm (LoA -27.0-36.3 mm, n = 195). Mean differences and LoA for subtype ER + /HER2- was 7.6 mm (LoA -31.3-46.5 mm, n = 100), for ER + /HER2 + 0.9 mm (LoA -8.5-10.2 mm, n = 33), for ER-/HER2+ -1.2 mm (LoA -5.1-7.5 mm, n = 21), and for ER-/HER- -0.4 mm (LoA -8.6-7.7 mm, n = 41).

Conclusion: HER2 + and ER-/HER2- tumor subtypes showed clear correlation and agreement between preoperative MRI and postoperative pathological assessment of tumor size. This suggests that MRI evaluation could be a suitable predictor to guide the surgical approach. Conversely, correlation and agreement for ER + /HER2- and lobular tumors was poor, evidenced by a difference in tumor size of up to 5 cm. Hence, we demonstrate that histological tumor subtype should be taken into account when planning breast conserving surgery after NAC.

Keywords: Breast cancer pathology; Lobular; MRI; Neoadjuvant therapies.