Towards Optimization of DCE-MRI Analysis for Early Prediction of the Response of Breast Cancer Patients to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Xia Li¹, Lori R. Arlinghaus¹, A. Bapsi chakravarthy¹, E. Brian Welch¹, Jaime Farley¹, Ingrid A. Mayer¹, Vandana G. Abramson¹, Richard G. Abramson¹, Mark C. Kelley¹, Ingrid M. Meszoely¹, Julie A. Means-Powell¹, Ana M. Grau¹, Sandeep Bhave¹, Thomas E. Yankeelov¹

Tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy is currently monitored by frank changes in tumor size, which often do not correlate with pathologic findings at surgery. DCE-MRI offers information related to tumor perfusion and permeability, vascular volume, and extravascular extracellular volume fraction. In this study, we attempted to determine the optimal analysis method for assessing if changes in these parameters after one cycle of therapy could separate pathologic complete responders from non-responders. The results show that tumor perfusion and permeability and vascular volume yield significant differences between responders and non-responders, but that changes in tumor volume do not.