The Correlation between Morpho-Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (CEM) Features and Prognostic Factors in Breast Cancer: A Single-Center Retrospective Analysis

Breast cancer, a major contributor to female mortality globally, presents challenges in detection, prompting exploration beyond digital mammography. Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (CEM), integrating morphological and functional information, emerges as a promising alternative, offering advantages in cost-effectiveness and reduced anxiety compared to MRI. This study investigates CEM's correlation with breast cancer prognostic factors, encompassing histology, grade, and molecular markers. In a retrospective analysis involving 114 women, CEM revealed diverse lesion characteristics. Statistical analyses identified correlations between specific CEM features, such as spiculated margins and irregular shape, and prognostic factors like tumor grade and molecular markers. Notably, spiculated margins predicted lower grade and HER2 status, while irregular shape correlated with PgR and Ki-67 status. The study emphasizes CEM's potential in predicting breast cancer prognosis, shedding light on tumor behavior. Despite the limitations, including sample size and single-observer analysis, the findings advocate for CEM's role in stratifying breast cancers based on biological characteristics. CEM features, particularly spiculated margins, irregular shape, and enhancement dynamics, may serve as valuable indicators for personalized treatment decisions. Further research is crucial to validate these correlations and enhance CEM's clinical utility in breast cancer assessment.

Delta-radiomics in cancer immunotherapy response prediction: A systematic review

Background

The new immunotherapies have not only changed the oncological therapeutic approach but have also made it necessary to develop new imaging methods for assessing the response to treatment. Delta radiomics consists of the analysis of radiomic features variation between different medical images, usually before and after therapy.

Purpose

This review aims to evaluate the role of delta radiomics in the immunotherapy response assessment.

Methods

A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Scopus, and Web Of Science using "delta radiomics AND immunotherapy" as search terms. The included articles' methodological quality was measured using the Radiomics Quality Score (RQS) tool.

Results

Thirteen articles were finally included in the systematic review. Overall, the RQS of the included studies ranged from 4 to 17, with a mean RQS total of 11,15 ± 4,18 with a corresponding percentage of 30.98 ± 11.61 %. Eleven articles out of 13 performed imaging at multiple time points. All the included articles performed feature reduction. No study carried out prospective validation, decision curve analysis, or cost-effectiveness analysis.

Conclusions

Delta radiomics has been demonstrated useful in evaluating the response in oncologic patients undergoing immunotherapy. The overall quality was found law, due to the lack of prospective design and external validation. Thus, further efforts are needed to bring delta radiomics a step closer to clinical implementation.