J Magn Reson Imaging. 2022 Jul 11. doi: 10.1002/jmri.28335. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Amide proton transfer (APT) imaging has been increasingly applied in tumor characterization. However, its value in evaluating breast cancer remains undetermined.
PURPOSE: To assess the diagnostic performance of APT imaging in breast cancer and its association with prognostic histopathologic characteristics.
STUDY TYPE: Prospective.
SUBJECTS: Eighty-four patients with breast lesions.
FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: A 3.0 T/single-shot fast spin echo APT imaging.
ASSESSMENT: APTw signal in breast lesion was quantified. Lesion malignancy, T stage, grades, Ki-67 index, molecular biomarkers (estrogen receptor [ER] expression, progesterone receptor [PR] expression, human epidermal growth factor receptor [HER-2] expression), molecular subtypes (luminal A, luminal B, triple negative, and HER-2 enriched) were determined.
STATISTICAL TESTS: Student t-test, one-way analysis of variance, receiver operating characteristic analysis, and Pearson’s correlation with P < 0.05 as statistical significance.
RESULTS: APTw signal was significantly higher in malignant lesions (1.55% ± 1.24%) than in benign lesions (0.54% ± 1.13%), and in grade III lesions than in grade II lesions (1.65% ± 0.84% vs. 0.96% ± 0.96%), and in T2- (1.57% ± 0.64%) and T3-stage lesions (1.54% ± 0.63%) than in T1-stage lesions (0.81% ± 0.64%) for invasive breast carcinoma of no special type. APTw signal significantly correlated with Ki-67 index (r = 0.364) but showed no significant difference in groups of ER (P = 0.069), PR (P = 0.069), HER-2 (P = 0.961), and among molecular subtypes (P = 0.073).
DATA CONCLUSION: APT imaging shows potential in differentiating breast lesion malignancy and associates with prognosis-related tumor grade, T stage, and proliferative activity.
EVIDENCE LEVEL: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.
PMID:35816177 | DOI:10.1002/jmri.28335
