Jeon-Hor Chen1, 2, Siwa Chan3, Dah-Cherng Yeh4, Chih-Chen Kuo2, Jocelyn Lu1, Peter Fu1, MuQing Lin1, Orhan Nalcioglu1, Min-Ying Lydia Su1
1Center for Functional Onco-Imaging, Department of Radiological Science, University of California , Irvine, CA, United States; 2Department of Radiology, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 3Department of Radiology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan; 4Department of Surgery, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
Functional breast symmetry is less known. In this study we used 3D MRI to investigate how the bilateral breast tissues of healthy women respond to the hormonal fluctuations during a menstrual cycle. Twenty-four healthy premenopausal Asian women were studied. The obtained CV and maximal percent difference of FV in the left and the right breast of all subjects were compared. The results demonstrate that during the MC, the CV of the fibroglandular tissue volume measured from the left and the right breasts shows a strong correlation (r > 0.7), so as the maximal changes of FV. The fluctuations of the morphological parameters between the left and the right breasts were not significantly different. Since most of breast cancers occur unilaterally, it would be interesting to investigate whether the functional response of tissues in bilateral breasts to hormonal stimulation is associated with different risks in developing cancer.