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Abstract #0369

Can Proton MR Spectroscopy Provide Useful Information for Characterizing Estrogen Receptor Status in Breast Cancer?

Hyeon-Man Baek1, Jeon-Hor Chen2,3, Orhan Nalcioglu2, Min-Ying Su2

1Radiology, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States; 2Center for Function Onco-Imaging, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, CA, United States; 3Radiology, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 404, Taiwan


ER-negative cancer was more aggressive, with bigger tumor size, more prominent tumor infiltration showing non-mass-type enhancements on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features. The aim of our study was to determine whether in vivo 1H-MRS can provide useful information for characterizing ER status in breast cancer. On the basis of the criterion (i.e., CRB < 100%), tCho detection rate was higher in ER-negative group (16/20, 80%) than in ER-positive group (15/27, 56%), but not reaching significant level (P = 0.083). The ER-positive group had a lower mean tCho concentration than the ER-negative group, but no significant difference was observed (2.01 vs. 2.24 mmol/kg, P = 0.677). The reason why our finding was not significant might be due to the heterogeneity of the breast cancer tissue.