title: Correlation between dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI and histopathology in the measurement of tumor and breast volume and their ratio in breast cancer patients: a prospective study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Earlier studies have examined the association between the diameter of primary tumors measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and histopathology in breast cancer patients. However, the diameter does not completely describe the dimensions of the breast tumor or its volumetric proportion relative to the whole breast. The association between breast tumor volume/breast volume ratios measured by these two techniques has not been reported.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-three patients were recruited from female patients with primary breast tumors admitted to our center between January and December 2010. They were divided into two groups. Group A (n = 46) underwent modified radical mastectomy (MRM), and Group B (n = 27) underwent preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy before MRM. They were examined by dynamic-contrast enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) to measure breast volumes (BVs), tumor volumes (TVs), and tumor volume/breast volume ratios (TV/BV). These measurements were compared with histopathology results after MRM, and the associations between MRI and pathology were analyzed by linear regression and Bland-Altman analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For Group A, the correlation coefficients for BVs, TVs, and TV/BV ratios measured by the two techniques were 0.938, 0.921, and 0.897 (all P < 0.001), respectively. For Group B, the correlation coefficients for BVs, TVs, and TV/BV ratios were 0.936, 0.902, and 0.869 (all P < 0.01), respectively. The results suggest statistically significant correlations between these parameters measured by the two techniques for both groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For these patients, BVs, TVs, and TV/BV ratios measured by DCE-MRI significantly correlated with those determined by histopathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Breast Disease Center, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing 100034, China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jing-Ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xue-Ning
authors.initials: XN
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.forename: Jian-Xin
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Yin-Hua
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001940:Breast / Q000473:pathology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D015411:Mastectomy, Modified Radical; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media