Blood oxygen level-dependent MRI for the monitoring of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast carcinoma: initial experience.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the feasibility of using R2* map MRI for pretreatment diagnosis and monitoring of tumor response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with breast cancer.


METHODS
Twenty-eight women with breast cancer, as evidenced by pathology, underwent MR imaging prior to and after chemotherapy. All patients were examined by conventional MRI and R2* map imaging. Subjects were divided into major histological response (MHR) and non-major histological response (NMHR) groups. Mean R2* values of cancerous and normal glandular tissues were measured before and following NAC. Differences in R2* and ΔR2*% values between these two groups were compared with paired or independent t tests. The relationship between ΔR2*% and histological response was examined using Spearman's correlation test.


RESULTS
Before NAC, the average R2* values in carcinoma were lower than in normal glandular tissue (P<.05). After two to four cycles of NAC, the R2* values in carcinoma were increased (P<.05 ), but this change was not significant in normal glandular tissue. After NAC, ΔR2*% was significantly higher in MHR as compared to NMHR (P<.05). The ΔR2*% correlated with the histological response (r=0.581, P<.01).


CONCLUSIONS
In women undergoing NAC for breast cancer treatment, R2* and ΔR2*% appear to provide predictive information of tumor response which is probably associated with changes in tumor angiogenesis and tissue oxygenation. R2* map imaging of breasts may therefore be useful in monitoring tumor response to NAC.
Department of Radiology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China.
Bing
B
Fan
Xiao-ying
XY
Wang
Xue-dong
XD
Yang
Hua
H
Zhong
Chun-xue
CX
Wu
Xue-xiang
XX
Jiang
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy*; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D010100:Oxygen