Correlation of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI and diffusion-weighted MR imaging with prognostic factors and subtypes of breast cancers

Predictive value of triple negative breast cancer based on DCE-MRI multi-phase full-volume ROI clinical radiomics model

BACKGROUND

Since no studies compared the value of radiomics features of distinct phases of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) for predicting triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).

PURPOSE

To identify the optimal phase of DCE-MRI for diagnosing TNBC and, in combination with clinical factors, to develop a clinical-radiomics model to well predict TNBC.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This retrospective study included 158 patients with pathology-confirmed breast cancer, including 38 cases of TNBC. The patients were randomly divided into the training and validation set (7:3). Eight radiomics models were built based on eight DCE-MR phases, and their performances were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and DeLong's test. The Radscore derived from the best radiomics model was integrated with independent clinical risk factors to construct a clinical-radiomics predictive model, and evaluate its performance using ROC analysis, calibration, and decision curve analyses.

RESULTS

WHO classification, margin, and T2-weighted (T2W) imaging signals were significantly correlated with TNBC and independent risk factors for TNBC (P<0.05). The clinical model yielded areas under the curve (AUCs) of 0.867 and 0.843 in the training and validation sets, respectively. The radiomics model based on DCEphase7 achieved the highest efficacy, with an AUC of 0.818 and 0.777. The AUC of the clinical-radiomics model was 0.936 and 0.886 in the training and validation sets, respectively. The decision curve showed the clinical utility of the clinical-radiomics model.

CONCLUSION

The radiomics features of DCE-MRI had the potential to predict TNBC and could improve the performance of clinical risk factors for preoperative personalized prediction of TNBC.

Evaluation of molecular receptors status in breast cancer using an mpMRI-based feature fusion radiomics model: mimicking radiologists' diagnosis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the performance of a novel feature fusion radiomics (RFF) model that incorporates features from multiparametric MRIs (mpMRI) in distinguishing different statuses of molecular receptors in breast cancer (BC) preoperatively.

METHODS

460 patients with 466 pathology-confirmed BCs who underwent breast mpMRI at 1.5T in our center were retrospectively included hormone receptor (HR) positive (HR+) (n=336) and HR negative (HR-) (n=130). The HR- patients were further categorized into human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) enriched BC (HEBC) (n=76) and triple negative BC (TNBC) (n=54). All lesions were divided into a training/validation cohort (n=337) and a test cohort (n=129). Volumes of interest (VOIs) delineation, followed by radiomics feature extraction, was performed on T2WI, DWI600 (b=600 s/mm2), DWI800 (b=800 s/mm2), ADC map, and DCE1-6 (six continuous DCE-MRI) images of each lesion. Simulating a radiologist's work pattern, 150 classification base models were constructed and analyzed to determine the top four optimum sequences for classifying HR+ vs. HR-, TNBC vs. HEBC, TNBC vs. non-TNBC in a random selected training cohort (n=337). Building upon these findings, the optimal single sequence models (Rss) and combined sequences models (RFF) were developed. The AUC, sensitivity, accuracy and specificity of each model for subtype differentiation were evaluated. The paired samples Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for performance comparison.

RESULTS

During the three classification tasks, the optimal single sequence for classifying HR+ vs. HR- was DWI600, while the ADC map, derived from DWI800 performed the best in distinguishing TNBC vs. HEBC, as well as identifying TNBC vs. non-TNBC, with corresponding training AUC values of 0.787, 0.788, and 0.809, respectively. Furthermore, the integration of the top four sequences in RFF models yielded improved performance, achieving AUC values of 0.809, 0.805 and 0.847, respectively. Consistent results was observed in both the training/validation and testing cohorts, with AUC values of 0.778, 0.787, 0.818 and 0.726, 0.773, 0.773, respectively (all p < 0.05 except HR+ vs. HR-).

CONCLUSION

The RFF model, integrating mpMRI radiomics features, demonstrated promising ability to mimic radiologists' diagnosis for preoperative identification of molecular receptors of BC.

Review of the relationship between tumor receptor subtypes and preference for visceral and/or serosal metastasis in breast cancer patients

In this study, we investigated the molecular phenotype-cancer relationship that may favor the main metastatic tendencies of cancer by comparing the association of receptor subtypes with the presence of metastasis, serosal metastasis, and/or visceral metastases in patients diagnosed with breast cancer. In this study, we retrospectively evaluated 853 patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer and followed up at our hospital between 2017 and 2022. The probability of metastasis in the most common tumor group, the non-special type of invasive carcinoma was significantly higher than that in other tumor groups. We formed our groups according to estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), and Ki67 status. In addition, when we compared the receptor groups, no significant difference was found between the receptor groups (Table 1). When the entire breast cancer cohort was considered, the association of serosal metastasis was statistically significantly higher in the ER and/or PR (+) and, HER2 (-) receptor subgroup than in all other receptor groups (P < .006), and the association of visceral metastasis/visceral + serosal metastasis with the ER and/or PR (+) and, HER2 (-) receptor subgroup was significantly higher than that in all other receptor groups (P < .001) (Table 2). In this study, we aimed to investigate the possible relationship between molecular markers of the primary tumor and the preference for serosal and visceral metastases over distant metastases in a large cohort of patients to contribute to the improvement of the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, a heterogeneous disease group. To the best of our knowledge, our study is the first to statistically investigate the association between receptor subgroups and visceral, serosal, and serosal + visceral metastases as a group and to reach some conclusions.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: an evaluation of its efficacy and research progress

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for breast cancer is widely used in the clinical setting to improve the chance of surgery, breast conservation and quality of life for patients with advanced breast cancer. A more accurate efficacy evaluation system is important for the decision of surgery timing and chemotherapy regimen implementation. However, current methods, encompassing imaging techniques such as ultrasound and MRI, along with non-imaging approaches like pathological evaluations, often fall short in accurately depicting the therapeutic effects of NAC. Imaging techniques are subjective and only reflect macroscopic morphological changes, while pathological evaluation is the gold standard for efficacy assessment but has the disadvantage of delayed results. In an effort to identify assessment methods that align more closely with real-world clinical demands, this paper provides an in-depth exploration of the principles and clinical applications of various assessment approaches in the neoadjuvant chemotherapy process.

Radiomics characterization of tissues in an animal brain tumor model imaged using dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI

Here, we investigate radiomics-based characterization of tumor vascular and microenvironmental properties in an orthotopic rat brain tumor model measured using dynamic-contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI. Thirty-two immune compromised-RNU rats implanted with human U-251N cancer cells were imaged using DCE-MRI (7Tesla, Dual-Gradient-Echo). The aim was to perform pharmacokinetic analysis using a nested model (NM) selection technique to classify brain regions according to vasculature properties considered as the source of truth. A two-dimensional convolutional-based radiomics analysis was performed on the raw-DCE-MRI of the rat brains to generate dynamic radiomics maps. The raw-DCE-MRI and respective radiomics maps were used to build 28 unsupervised Kohonen self-organizing-maps (K-SOMs). A Silhouette-Coefficient (SC), k-fold Nested-Cross-Validation (k-fold-NCV), and feature engineering analyses were performed on the K-SOMs' feature spaces to quantify the distinction power of radiomics features compared to raw-DCE-MRI for classification of different Nested Models. Results showed that eight radiomics features outperformed respective raw-DCE-MRI in prediction of the three nested models. The average percent difference in SCs between radiomics features and raw-DCE-MRI was: 29.875% ± 12.922%, p < 0.001. This work establishes an important first step toward spatiotemporal characterization of brain regions using radiomics signatures, which is fundamental toward staging of tumors and evaluation of tumor response to different treatments.

Prediction of Primary Tumour and Axillary Lymph Node Response to Neoadjuvant Chemo(Targeted) Therapy with Dedicated Breast [18F]FDG PET/MRI in Breast Cancer

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to investigate whether sequential hybrid [18F]FDG PET/MRI can predict the final pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemo(targeted) therapy (NCT) in breast cancer.

METHODS

Sequential [18F]FDG PET/MRI was performed before, halfway through and after NCT, followed by surgery. Qualitative response evaluation was assessed after NCT. Quantitatively, the SUV_max obtained by [18F]FDG PET and signal enhancement ratio (SER) obtained by MRI were determined sequentially on the primary tumour. For the response of axillary lymph node metastases (ALNMs), SUV_max was determined sequentially on the most [18F]FDG-avid ALN. ROC curves were generated to determine the optimal cut-off values for the absolute and percentage change in quantitative variables in predicting response. Diagnostic performance in predicting primary tumour response was assessed with AUC. Similar analyses were performed in clinically node-positive (cN+) patients for ALNM response.

RESULTS

Forty-one breast cancer patients with forty-two primary tumours and twenty-six cases of pathologically proven cN+ disease were prospectively included. Pathologic complete response (pCR) of the primary tumour occurred in 16 patients and pCR of the ALNMs in 14 cN+ patients. The AUC of the qualitative evaluation after NCT was 0.71 for primary tumours and 0.54 for ALNM responses. For primary tumour response, combining the percentage decrease in SUV_max and SER halfway through NCT achieved an AUC of 0.78. The AUC for ALNM response prediction increased to 0.92 by combining the absolute and the percentage decrease in SUV_max halfway through NCT.

CONCLUSIONS

Qualitative PET/MRI after NCT can predict the final pathologic primary tumour response, but not the ALNM response. Combining quantitative variables halfway through NCT can improve the diagnostic accuracy for final pathologic ALNM response prediction.