Giuseppe Petralia1,
Luke Bonello1, Paul Summers1, Sara Raimondi2,
Ala Malasevschi1, Roberto Di Filippi1, Dow-Mu Koh3,
Marzia Locatelli4, Giuseppe Curigliano4, Massimo
Bellomi1
1Radiology, Istituto Europeo di
Oncologia, Milan, Lombardia, Italy; 2Epidemiology and Biostatistics,
Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, Milan, Lombardia, Italy; 3Radiology,
Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, United Kingdom; 4Medical Oncology,
Istituto Europeo di Oncologia, Milan, Lombardia, Italy
We
performed a qualitative analysis of diffusion weighted magnetic resonance
imaging (DW-MRI) of breast tumours to identify common semiotic
characteristics, and a quantitative analysis in 28 patients to examine the
correlation of DW-MRI with molecular prognostic factors, and to assess the
interobserver variability in the calculation of ADC values. Hyper-intensity
in DW images and low ADC values (mean 1.1 x 10-3mm2/sec) were common
characteristics in the breast tumours studied. Interobserver variability was
20%.A marginally significant correlation between ADC value and percentage of
PgR and possible higher mean ADC values for the LUMINAL A subtype warrant
further study.
Keywords