Background Parenchymal Enhancement and Fibroglandular Tissue Proportion on Breast MRI: Correlation with Hormone Receptor Expression and Molecular Subtypes of Breast Cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship between background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) and fibroglandular tissue (FGT) proportion on breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and hormone receptor expression and molecular subtypes in invasive breast cancer.


METHODS
This retrospective study enrolled 75 breast cancer patients who underwent breast MRI before treatment. T1-weighted images were reviewed to determine the FGT proportion, and contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed T1-weighted images were reviewed to determine BPE. Estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor 2-neu (HER2) status, and molecular subtypes of the tumors were compared with the BPE and FGT proportions.


RESULTS
Women with high BPE tended to have increased rate of ER and PR positive tumors (p=0.018 and p=0.013). FGT proportion was associated with ER positivity (p=0.009), but no significant differences between FGT proportion and PR positivity were found (p=0.256). There was no significant difference between HER2 status and any of the imaging features (p=0.453 and p=0.922). For premenopausal women, both FGT proportion and BPE were associated with molecular subtypes (p=0.025 and p=0.042). FGT proportion was also associated with BPE (p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
In women with invasive breast cancer, both high FGT containing breasts and high BPE breasts tended to have ER positive tumors.
Department of Radiology, Ondokuz Mayıs University School of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey.
Mesut
M
Öztürk
Department of Radiology, Ondokuz Mayıs University School of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey.
Ahmet Veysel
AV
Polat
Department of Pathology, Ondokuz Mayıs University School of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey.
Yurdanur
Y
Süllü
Department of Medical Biostatistics, Ondokuz Mayıs University School of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey.
Leman
L
Tomak
Department of General Surgery, Ondokuz Mayıs University School of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey.
Ayfer Kamalı
AK
Polat
Breast neoplasms; enhancement; hormone receptor; magnetic resonance imaging; molecular subtypes