Sunitha Thakur1, 2, Louisa Bokacheva1, Jennifer Kaplan2, Merlin Gnanasigamani2, Gregory Nyman2, Elizabeth Morris2
1Department of Medical Physics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States; 2Department of Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, United States
Thirty eight patients with breast cancer, suspicious lesions or family history of disease were studied with multiple b-value diffusion-weighted MRI at 3 T. The intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) effect was observed in 11/13 of malignant lesions, in 1/8 benign lesion and in none of the 17 normal fibroglandular tissue regions of interest. In malignant lesions, the mean vascular fraction was 0.160.04 and the pseudodiffusion coefficient was (8.52.5)x10-3 mm2/s. The IVIM effect in breast lesions is difficult to quantify reliably, but may add confidence in discrimination malignant lesions from benign lesions.