Diffusion tensor imaging: survival analysis prediction in breast cancer patients.

PURPOSE: We aimed to explore the performance of diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) parameters in evaluating disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with invasive breast cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 49 women with invasive breast cancer who were diagnosed between 2017 and 2022 were included. All patients underwent breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with DTI and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) features, with examiners blinded to the clinical data. Volume anisotropy (VA), fractional anisotropy (FA), and ADC values were measured to assess intratumoral measured heterogeneity. Correlations and differences in diffusion metrics according to OS and DFS status of the cases were analyzed. The discriminative ability of the quantitative findings was assessed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses and validated in the independent cohort. RESULTS: We evaluated patients with metastases (n = 13, 36.5%) and those without metastases (n = 36, 73.5%). Differences in the ADC, FA, and VA values were observed. The results of Cox regression survival analysis for all the patients included in the survival analysis revealed that DTI metrics contributed to the prediction of overall survival (OS) in the emerging models (p < 0.05). Both FA and VA were associated with OS (p = 0.037 and p = 0.038, respectively). However, ADC was not associated with OS (p = 0.177) or DFS (p = 0.252). CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the prognostic value of DTI-MRI in breast cancer with statistical survival analysis techniques. We believe that DTI measurements can be used as a biomarker for OS analysis in breast cancer given the available data.

Gastric Teratoma in an Adult Female Patient: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND: Gastric teratoma (GT) occurs as a rule in infancy and is an extremely unusual gastric tumor in adult patients. CASE PRESENTATION: In this paper, we present the clinical and imaging findings of a 56-year-old female patient with a GT. The patient's main symptoms were increasing abdominal discomfort and pain. After the physical examination, she underwent ultrasound (US) and computed tomography (CT), which showed a large mass at the posterior wall of the stomach, and a teratoma was initially considered. After surgery, pathology confirmed the diagnosis of GT. The patient recovered after surgery and was discharged in good health. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first reported case of gastric teratoma in an adult woman in the literature. CONCLUSION: Gastric teratoma of the adult period is a rare benign neoplasm that may have several complications; therefore, imaging is crucial for diagnosis and accurate treatment management. The aim of this study is to emphasize the value of US and CT in the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of mature gastric teratomas.