ADC Measurements of Malignant & Benign Breast Tumors & their Correlation to Prognostic Markers: Preliminary 3T Study

Sunitha Thakur^1,2, Sharp Malak², Sanjay Annarao¹, Dilip Giri³, Jason Koutcher^1,2, Elizabeth Morris²

DWI provides information about early changes in morphology and physiology of tissues by measuring apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of water molecules. Here we present the clinical usefulness of DWI at 3T-field strength for detecting malignancy. We also studied if there is any correlation exists between ADC values and traditional markers such as histology, molecular markers such as ER, PR and HER-2, and lymph node status. Results showed that ADC values of malignant lesions were significantly lower than benign lesions. There is also significant correlation between ADC and histology grade or lymph node status. Histopathology was used as the reference standard.