Abstract #4597

Microcalcification Detection and Differentiation in Breast Cancer using Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) MRI

Yazan Ayoub¹, Sai Man Cheung¹, Boddor Maglan¹, Nicholas Senn¹, Ehab Husain², Yazan Masannat³, and Jiabao He^1,4

¹Aberdeen Biomedical Imaging Centre, Institute of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, Medical Sciences and Nutrition, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, ²Pathology Department, Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, Aberdeen, United Kingdom, ³Breast Unit, Broomfield Hospital, Mid and South Essex NHS Trust, Essex, United Kingdom, ⁴Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre, Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom

Synopsis

Keywords: Breast, Breast, Microcalcification UTE

Motivation: Ultra short echo time (UTE) has been developed to capture the rapid signal decay of short T2* species, to overcome the insensitivity of conventional MRI towards micro-calcification, a central prognostic marker of breast cancer.

Goal(s): To examine the degree of calcification in breast tumour specimens using UTE.

Approach: The degree of calcification of whole tumour from 20 specimens freshly excised from female patients with breast cancer was derived using dual-echo UTE protocol, with correlation against histological findings.

Results: The degree of calcification was significantly different between malignant and non-calcified tissue, with no significant correlation to Ki-67 and NPI scores.

Impact: Ultra-short echo time (UTE) enhances the sensitivity to micro-calcifications in the breast, through dual-echo approach to maximise the signal of short T2* species. Clinical implementation of UTE can enhance assessment of microcalcification and improve prognostic value of breast cancer imaging.

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