The high correlation between measurements of residual disease obtained on MR images and those obtained at pathology validates the sensitivity of MR imaging of the breast after chemotherapy.
MRI tumor volume was more predictive of RFS than tumor diameter, suggesting that volumetric changes measured using MRI may provide a more sensitive assessment of treatment efficacy.
A quantitative measure of three-dimensional breast density derived from noncontrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was investigated in 35 women at high-risk for breast cancer. A semiautomatic segmentation tool was used to quantify the total volume of the breast and to separate volumes of fibroglandular and adipose tissue in noncontrast MRI data. The MRI density measure was defined as the ratio of breast fibroglandular volume over total volume of the breast. The overall correlation between MRI and mammographic density measures was R2=.67. However the MRI/mammography density correlation was higher in patients with lower breast density (R2=.73) than in patients with higher breast density (R2=.26). Women with mammographic density higher than 25% exhibited very different magnetic resonance density measures spread over a broad range of values. These results suggest that MRI may provide a volumetric measure more representative of breast composition than mammography, particularly in groups of women with dense breasts. Magnetic resonance imaging density could potentially be quantified and used for a better assessment of breast cancer risk in these populations.
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