Evaluating the Margins of Breast Cancer Tumors by Using Digital Breast Tomosynthesis with Deep Learning: A Preliminary Assessment.

BACKGROUND: The assessment information of tumor margins is extremely important for the success of the breast cancer surgery and whether the patient undergoes a second operation. However, conducting surgical margin assessments is a time-consuming task that requires pathology-related skills and equipment, and often cannot be provided in a timely manner. To address this challenge, digital breast tomosynthesis technology was utilized to generate detailed cross-sectional images of the breast tissue and integrate deep learning algorithms for image segmentation, achieving an assessment of tumor margins during surgery. METHODS: this study utilized post-operative tissue samples from 46 patients who underwent breast-conserving treatment, and generated image sets using digital breast tomosynthesis for the training and evaluation of deep learning models. RESULTS: Deep learning algorithms effectively identifying the tumor area. They achieved a Mean Intersection over Union (MIoU) of 0.91, global accuracy of 99%, weighted IoU of 44%, precision of 98%, recall of 83%, F1 score of 89%, and dice coefficient of 93% on the training dataset; for the testing dataset, MIoU was at 83%, global accuracy at 97%, weighted IoU at 38%, precision at 87%, recall rate at 69%, F1 score at 76%, dice coefficient at 86%. CONCLUSIONS: The initial evaluation suggests that the deep learning-based image segmentation method is highly accurate in measuring breast tumor margins. This helps provide information related to tumor margins during surgery, and by using different datasets, this research method can also be applied to the surgical margin assessment of various types of tumors.

Diagnostic accuracy of pre-operative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in predicting axillary lymph node metastasis: variations in intrinsic subtypes, and strategy to improve negative predictive value-an analysis of 2473 invasive breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND: The value and utility of axillary lymph node (ALN) evaluation with MRI in breast cancer were not clear for various intrinsic subtypes. The aim of the current study is to test the potential of combining breast MRI and clinicopathologic factors to identify low-risk groups of ALN metastasis and improve diagnostic performance. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Patients with primary operable invasive breast cancer with pre-operative breast MRI and post-operative pathologic reports were retrospectively collected from January 2009 to December 2021 in a single institute. The concordance of MRI and pathology of ALN status were determined, and also analyzed in different intrinsic subtypes. A stepwise strategy was designed to improve MRI-negative predictive value (NPV) on ALN metastasis. RESULTS: 2473 patients were enrolled. The diagnostic performance of MRI in detecting metastatic ALN was significantly different between intrinsic subtypes (p = 0.007). Multivariate analysis identified tumor size and histologic type as independent predictive factors of ALN metastases. Patients with HER-2 (MRI tumor size ≤ 2 cm), or TNBC (MRI tumor size ≤ 2 cm) were found to have MRI-ALN-NPV higher than 90%, and these false cases were limited to low axillary tumor burden. CONCLUSION: The diagnostic performance of MRI to predict ALN metastasis varied according to the intrinsic subtype. Combined pre-operative clinicopathologic factors and intrinsic subtypes may increase ALN MRI NPV, and further identify some groups of patients with low risks of ALN metastasis, high NPV, and low burdens of axillary disease even in false-negative cases.

Mammographic Density Reduction is Associated to the Prognosis in Asian Breast Cancer Patients Receiving Hormone Therapy.

INTRODUCTION: Using mammographic density as a significant biomarker for predicting prognosis in adjuvant hormone therapy patients is controversial due to the conflicting results of recent studies. This study aimed to evaluate hormone therapy-induced mammographic density reduction and its association with prognosis in Taiwanese patients. METHODS: In this retrospective study, 1941 patients with breast cancer were screened, and 399 patients with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer who received adjuvant hormone therapy were enrolled. The mammographic density was measured using a fully automatic estimation procedure based on full-field digital mammography. The prognosis included relapse and metastasis during treatment follow-up. The Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model were used for disease-free survival analysis. RESULTS: A mammographic density reduction rate >20.8%, measured preoperatively and after receiving hormone therapy from 12-18 months, was a significant threshold for predicting prognosis in patients with breast cancer. The disease-free survival rate was significantly higher in patients whose mammographic density reduction rate was >20.8% (P = .048). CONCLUSION: This study's findings could help estimate the prognosis for patients with breast cancer and may improve the quality of adjuvant hormone therapy after enlarging the study cohort in the future.

The impact of body mass index (BMI) on MRI diagnostic performance and surgical management for axillary lymph node in breast cancer.

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that different BMI might have different impact on pre-operative MRI axillary lymph node (ALN) prediction accuracy and thereby subsequent surgical lymph node management. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of BMI on presentation, surgical treatment, and MRI performance characteristics of breast cancer with the main focus on ALN metastasis evaluation. METHODS: The medical records of patients with primary invasive breast cancer who had pre-operative breast MRI and underwent surgical resection were retrospectively reviewed. They were categorized into 3 groups in this study: underweight (BMI < 18.5), normal (BMI of 18.5 to 24), and overweight (BMI > 24). Patients' characteristics, surgical management, and MRI performance for axillary evaluation between the 3 groups were compared. RESULTS: A total of 2084 invasive breast cancer patients with a mean age of 53.4 ± 11.2 years were included. Overweight women had a higher rate of breast conserving surgery (56.7% vs. 54.5% and 52.1%) and initial axillary lymph node dissection (15.9% vs. 12.2% and 8.5%) if compared to normal and underweight women. Although the post-operative ALN positive rates were similar between the 3 groups, overweight women were significantly found to have more axillary metastasis on MRI compared with normal and underweight women (50.2% vs 37.7% and 18.3%). There was lower accuracy in terms of MRI prediction in overweight women (65.1%) than in normal and underweight women (67.8% and 76.1%). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that BMI may influence the diagnostic performance on MRI on ALN involvement and the surgical management of the axilla in overweight to obese women with breast cancer.

Unusual Rapid Growth of Primary Splenic Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma with Extensive Necrosis.

The primary splenic lymphoma is extremely uncommon with an incidence rate of <1% of all the lymphomas under the strict criteria for diagnosis expounded by Das Gupta et al. Clinical presentations of nonspecific symptoms are weight loss, weakness, fever, and left upper quadrant pain or discomfort due to enlarged spleen. Abdominal ultrasound and CT are the most widely used imaging modality for the assessment of lymphoma. The imaged features of splenic lymphoma are nonspecific; typical lymphoma presents as a diffusely enlarged spleen. The abdominal CT scan in our case showed a large cystic splenic mass measuring 14 cm without enhancement after contrast medium. Lymphoma is often described as an aggressive tumor because its rapid doubling time can quickly increase the size of a tumor. In our case, the tumor grew to more than 100 times its original size in 4 months. So, we present this unusual rapid growth of primary splenic lymphoma.

Impact of pre-operative breast magnetic resonance imaging on contralateral synchronous and metachronous breast cancer detection-A case control comparison study with 1468 primary operable breast cancer patients with mean follow-up of 102 months.

BACKGROUND: Women with unilateral breast cancer are at an increased risk for the development of contralateral breast cancers. We hypothesis that combined breast MRI would detect more contralateral synchronous breast cancer than conventional imaging alone, and resulted in less contralateral metachronous breast cancer during follow-up. METHODS: We retrospectively collected two groups of breast cancer patients diagnosed from 2009 to 2013 for evaluating the effectiveness and value of adding pre-operative breast MRI to conventional breast images (mammography and sonography) for detection of contralateral synchronous breast cancer. The new metachronous contralateral breast cancer diagnosed during follow-up was prospectively evaluated and compared. RESULTS: Group A (n = 733) comprised patients who underwent conventional preoperative imaging and group B (n = 735) combined with MRI were enrolled and compared. Seventy (9.5%) of the group B patients were found to have contralateral lesions detected by breast MRI, and 65.7% of these lesions only visible with MRI. The positive predictive value of breast MRI detected contralateral lesions was 48.8%. With the addition of breast MRI to conventional imaging studies, more surgical excisions were performed in contralateral breasts (6% (44/735) versus 1.4% (10/733), P< 0.01), more synchronous contralateral breast cancer detected (2.9% (21/735) versus 1.1% (8/733), P = 0.02), and resulted in numerical less (2.2% (16/714) versus 3% (22/725), p = 0.3) metachronous contralateral breast cancer during a mean follow-up of 102 months. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides useful estimates of the pre-operative breast MRI for the increased detection of contralateral synchronous breast cancer and less subsequent contralateral metachronous breast cancer.

Revisit the practice of lymph node biopsy in patients diagnosed as ductal carcinoma in situ before operation: a retrospective analysis of 682 cases and evaluation of the role of breast MRI.

BACKGROUND: The optimal axillary lymph node (ALN) management strategy in patients diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) preoperatively remains controversial. The value of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict ALN metastasis pre-operative DCIS patients was evaluated. METHODS: Patients with primary DCIS with or without pre-operative breast MRI evaluation and underwent breast surgery were recruited from single institution. The value of breast MRI for ALN evaluation, predictors of breast and ALN surgeries, upgrade from DCIS to invasive cancer, and ALN metastasis were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 682 cases with pre-operative diagnosis of DCIS were enrolled in current study. The rate of upgrade to invasive cancer were found in 34.2% of specimen, and this upgrade rate is 23% for patients who received breast conserving surgery and 40.7% for mastectomy (p < 0.01). Large pre-operative imaging tumor size and post-operative invasive component were risk factors to ALN metastasis. Breast MRI had 53.8% sensitivity, 77.8% specificity, 14.9% positive predictive value, 95.9% negative predictive value (NPV), and 76.2% accuracy to predict ALN metastasis in pre-OP DCIS patients. In MRI node-negative breast cancer patients with MRI tumor size < 3 cm, the NPV was 96.4%, and all these false-negative cases were N1. Pre-OP diagnosed DCIS patients with MRI tumor size < 3 cm and node negative suitable for BCS could safely omit SLNB if whole breast radiotherapy is to be performed. CONCLUSION: Breast MRI had high NPV to predict ALN metastasis in pre-OP DCIS patients, which is useful and could be provided as shared decision-making reference.

Robotic versus conventional nipple sparing mastectomy and immediate gel implant breast reconstruction in the management of breast cancer- A case control comparison study with analysis of clinical outcome, medical cost, and patient-reported cosmetic results.

BACKGROUND: Robotic nipple sparing mastectomy (R-NSM), which uses the da Vinci surgical platform, could perform NSM and immediate breast reconstruction through a small and inconspicuous extra-mammary axillary or lateral chest incision. R-NSM was reported with extremely low nipple areolar complex (NAC) necrosis rate, good cosmetic results, and high patient satisfaction. However, there was little evidence available comparing the effectiveness and safety of R-NSM and conventional NSM (C-NSM) in the management of breast cancer. METHODS: A case control comparison study was conducted for patients with breast cancer who underwent R-NSM or C-NSM with immediate gel implant breast reconstruction (IGBR) from July 2011 to September 2019 at a single institution to compare the clinical outcomes, patient-reported esthetic results, and medical cost. RESULTS: According to the study design, 54 procedures of R-NSM were compared with 62 procedures of C-NSM in the surgical management of breast cancer combined with IGBR. Compared with C-NSM, R-NSM was associated with higher overall satisfaction (92% excellent and 8% good versus 75.6% excellent and 24.4% good, P = 0.046), and wound/scar related outcome in patient-reported esthetic results. The NAC ischemia/necrosis risk, overall complication rate, and blood loss were not significantly different between R-NSM and C-NSM groups. However, longer operation time and higher overall medical cost (10,877 ±â€¯796 versus 5,702 ±â€¯661 US Dollars, P<0.01) was observed in R-NSM group. CONCLUSION: Compared with C-NSM, R-NSM showed comparable clinical outcomes and favorable patients' satisfaction with the esthetic results, but at the price of longer operation time and higher cost.

Higher underestimation of tumour size post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy with breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-A concordance comparison cohort analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of breast MRI for detecting residual tumor and the tumor size whether it would be affected after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. METHODS: Total 109 patients with NAC and 682 patients without NAC were included in this retrospective study. Measurement of the largest diameter of tumors at pathology was chosen as gold standard and compared with preoperative breast MRI. A concordance threshold of ±25% of maximal tumor size was used. The accuracy of MRI was graded as concordant, underestimation, or overestimation rate. Further subgroup analysis with tumor stages, histologic subgroups and intrinsic subtypes was performed. RESULTS: The post-NAC MRI was associated with 92.5% sensitivity, 55.2% specificity, 85.1% positive predictive value, 72.7% negative predictive value, and overall 82.6% accuracy for detecting residual tumor. In determining tumor size, the overall concordance rates of the non-NAC group and the NAC group were 43.5% and 41.3%, respectively (p = 0.678). But the overestimation rate and underestimation rate were 26.6% and 32.1% for NAC group, and 52.9% and 3.5% for the non-NAC group (p<0.001). While in the subgroups analysis, the concordance rate of the NAC group (26.7%) was lower than that of the non-NAC group (82.1%) at T3 stage (p<0.001). There were no statistically significant differences between different tumor histologic subgroups and intrinsic subtypes. CONCLUSIONS: The overall accuracy of MRI in predicting tumor size was not affected by NAC; however, it tends to underestimate tumor size after NAC, especially in patients with T3 lesions and above.

Multiview Contouring for Breast Tumor on Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

The shape and contour of the lesion are shown to be effective features for physicians to identify breast tumor as benign or malignant. The region of the lesion is usually manually created by the physician according to their clinical experience; therefore, contouring tumors on breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is difficult and time-consuming. For this purpose, an automatic contouring method for breast tumors was developed for less burden in the analysis and to decrease the observed bias to help in making decisions clinically. In this study, a multiview segmentation method for detecting and contouring breast tumors in MRI was represented. The preprocessing of the proposed method reduces any amount of noises but preserves the shape and contrast of the breast tumor. The two-dimensional (2D) level-set segmentation method extracts contours of breast tumors from the transverse, coronal, and sagittal planes. The obtained contours are further utilized to generate appropriate three-dimensional (3D) contours. Twenty breast tumor cases were evaluated and the simulation results show that the proposed contouring method was an efficient method for delineating 3D contours of breast tumors in MRI.

Implant volume estimation in direct-to-implant breast reconstruction after nipple-sparing mastectomy.

BACKGROUND: Nipple-sparing mastectomy (NSM) is an increasingly popular alternative to more traditional mastectomy approaches. However, estimating the implant volume during direct-to-implant (DTI) reconstruction following NSM is difficult for surgeons with little-to-moderate experience. We aimed to provide a fast, easy to use, and accurate method to aid in the estimation of implant size for DTI reconstruction using the specimen weight and breast volume. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed using data from 145 NSM patients with specific implant types. Standard two-dimensional digital mammograms were obtained in 118 of the patients. Breast morphological factors (specimen weight, mammographic breast density and volume, and implant size and type) were recorded. Curve-fitting and linear regression models were used to develop formulas predicting the implant volume, and the prediction performance of the obtained formulas was evaluated using the prospective data set. RESULTS: Two formulas to estimate the implant size were obtained, one using the specimen weight and one using the breast volume. The coefficients of correlation (R2) in these formulas were over 0.98 and the root mean squared errors were approximately 13. CONCLUSIONS: These implant volume estimate formulas benefit surgeons by providing a preoperative implant volume assessment in DTI reconstruction using the breast volume and an intraoperative assessment using the specimen weight. The implant size estimation formulas obtained in the present study may be applied in a majority of patients.

Mammographic Density Distribution of Healthy Taiwanese Women and its Naturally Decreasing Trend with Age.

We analysed typical mammographic density (MD) distributions of healthy Taiwanese women to augment existing knowledge, clarify cancer risks, and focus public health efforts. From January 2011 to December 2015, 88,193 digital mammograms were obtained from 69,330 healthy Taiwanese women (average, 1.27 mammograms each). MD measurements included dense volume (DV) and volumetric density percentage (VPD) and were quantified by fully automated volumetric density estimation and Box-Cox normalization. Prediction of the declining MD trend was estimated using curve fitting and a rational model. Normalized DV and VPD Lowess curves demonstrated similar but non-identical distributions. In high-density grade participants, the VPD increased from 12.45% in the 35-39-year group to 13.29% in the 65-69-year group but only from 5.21% to 8.47% in low-density participants. Regarding the decreased cumulative VPD percentage, the mean MD declined from 12.79% to 19.31% in the 45-50-year group versus the 50-55-year group. The large MD decrease in the fifth decade in this present study was similar to previous observations of Western women. Obtaining an MD distribution model with age improves the understanding of breast density trends and age variations and provides a reference for future studies on associations between MD and cancer risk.

Clinicopathologic factors related to surgical margin involvement, reoperation, and residual cancer in primary operable breast cancer - An analysis of 2050 patients.

BACKGROUND: To evaluate whether clinicopathologic factors are related to surgical margin involvement, reoperation, and residual cancer in primary operable breast cancer. METHODS: Identification of patients at increased risk for positive surgical margins may enhance clinical preoperative decision-making and lower the reoperation rate. In this retrospective study, we analyzed the factors associated with positive surgical margins, the need for re-excision, and residual cancer detection in re-excised specimens in a cohort of 2050 women who underwent either breast-conserving surgery (BCS) or mastectomy for primary operable breast cancer. RESULTS: Positive surgical margins were detected in 151 (7.4%) of the 2050 patients. The incidence of positive surgical margins was 11.3% (118/1042) in the BCS group and 3.3% (33/1008) in the mastectomy group (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, lower body mass index (BMI), larger tumor size, and pathologic evidence of multifocal disease were associated with positive surgical margin involvement in the BCS group. Younger age and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) histologic subtypes (Odds ratio (OR) = 2.165, 95% CI = 1.253-4.323) were associated with higher risk of re-operations. Preoperative MRI examination was associated with decreased risk for margin involvement in the BCS group (OR = 0.530, 95% CI = 0.332-0.842) and reoperation (OR = 0.302, 95% CI = 0.119-0.728). DCIS histologic subtypes were associated with higher residual tumor incidence than other types of breast cancer. CONCLUSIONS: Lower BMI, larger tumor size, pathologic evidence of multifocal disease, and no preoperative MRI evaluation were associated with increased risk for positive surgical margin involvement. DCIS with positive surgical margins was associated with increased risk for reoperation and residual cancer detection at re-excision.

Technique for single axillary incision robotic assisted quadrantectomy and immediate partial breast reconstruction with robotic latissimus dorsi flap harvest for breast cancer: A case report.

RATIONALE: The clinical application of robotic surgery in breast conserving surgery or volume replacement with robotic latissimus dorsi flap harvest (RLDFH) has been rarely reported. In this study, we report the preliminary experience and clinical outcome of robotic assisted quadrantectomy (RAQ) and immediate partial breast reconstruction (IPBR) with RLDFH. PATIENT CONCERN: Decreasing and avoid back scar length after latissimus dorsi flap harvest. DIAGNOSES: One 28 years old female with left breast cancer underwent RAQ and IPBR with RLDFH. Initially, she was diagnosed with left breast infiltrating carcinoma that was clinical stage T3N1M0 and triple negative. INTERVENTIONS: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of 4 cycles of epirubicin and cyclophosphamide followed by 4 cycles of docetaxel was performed. Breast magnetic resonance imaging showed residual breast cancer about 4.5 cm over the left upper outer quadrant of the breast. Sentinel lymph node biopsy showed no lymph node metastasis. RAQ, which took 82 minutes, was performed first, and the resected breast specimen's weight was 203 gm. She received IPBR with RLDFH, which took 97 minutes. OUTCOMES: The overall blood loss was 40 mL. The final pathology result was ypT2 (4.2 cm)N0 (sn0/3)M0 and stage IIA. The resection margin was free of tumors. The post-operative recovery was smooth except for seroma formation over the back, which was relieved after repeated aspiration at an outpatient clinic. The patient was satisfied with the post-operative scar and aesthetic outcome. No local recurrence, distant metastasis or case mortality was found during 5 months of follow-up. LESSONS: RAQ and IPBR with RLDFH is a safe alternative for small-to-medium-breast-size women with breast cancer who desire breast conservation and are indicated for volume replacement with autologous latissimus dorsi flap.

Role of breast magnetic resonance imaging in predicting malignant invasion of the nipple-areolar complex: Potential predictors and reliability between inter-observers.

In this study, we assessed the diagnostic accuracy of breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for evaluation of malignant invasion of the nipple-areolar complex (NAC).Patients with primary operable breast cancer who underwent preoperative breast MRI and received surgery during January 2011 to December 2013 were collected. The accuracy and potential factors of MRI in predicting nipple invasion were evaluated by comparing preoperative MRI with postoperative histopathologic findings. The consistency of interobservers' variances across different radiologists was also compared.Totally, 704 patients were enrolled in this study, and 56 (8%) patients have pathologic NAC invasion. Several MRI factors were potential predictors of nipple invasion. Only unilateral nipple enhancement on MRI was the most significant independent predictor of NAC involvement in multivariate analysis. The statistical measures, such as sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and the accuracy of breast MRI were 71.4%, 81.6%, 25.2%, 97.1%, and 80.8%, respectively, in one investigator and 78.6%, 88.1%, 36.4%, 97.9%, and 87.4%, respectively, in the other investigator.MR images showed acceptable accuracy and impressive NPV, but low PPV in evaluation of malignant NAC invasion preoperatively. MRI finding of unilateral nipple enhancement was the most significant predictor of NAC involvement.

Using Flow Characteristics in Three-Dimensional Power Doppler Ultrasound Imaging to Predict Complete Responses in Patients Undergoing Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVES: Strategies are needed for the identification of a poor response to treatment and determination of appropriate chemotherapy strategies for patients in the early stages of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. We hypothesize that power Doppler ultrasound imaging can provide useful information on predicting response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy. METHODS: The solid directional flow of vessels in breast tumors was used as a marker of pathologic complete responses (pCR) in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Thirty-one breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy and had tumors of 2 to 5 cm were recruited. Three-dimensional power Doppler ultrasound with high-definition flow imaging technology was used to acquire the indices of tumor blood flow/volume, and the chemotherapy response prediction was established, followed by support vector machine classification. RESULTS: The accuracy of pCR prediction before the first chemotherapy treatment was 83.87% (area under the ROC curve [AUC] = 0.6957). After the second chemotherapy treatment, the accuracy of was 87.9% (AUC = 0.756). Trend analysis showed that good and poor responders exhibited different trends in vascular flow during chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study demonstrates the feasibility of using the vascular flow in breast tumors to predict chemotherapeutic efficacy.

Does Breast Magnetic Resonance Imaging Combined With Conventional Imaging Modalities Decrease the Rates of Surgical Margin Involvement and Reoperation?: A Case-Control Comparative Analysis.

The objective of this study was to assess whether preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with conventional breast imaging techniques decreases the rates of margin involvement and reexcision.Data on patients who underwent surgery for primary operable breast cancer were obtained from the Changhua Christian Hospital (CCH) breast cancer database. The rate of surgical margin involvement and the rate of reoperation were compared between patients who underwent conventional breast imaging modalities (Group A: mammography and sonography) and those who received breast MRI in addition to conventional imaging (Group B: mammography, sonography, and MRI).A total of 1468 patients were enrolled in this study. Among the 733 patients in Group A, 377 (51.4%) received breast-conserving surgery (BCS) and 356 (48.6%) received mastectomy. Among the 735 patients in Group B, 348 (47.3%) received BCS and 387 (52.7%) received mastectomy. There were no significant differences in operative method between patients who received conventional imaging alone and those that received MRI and conventional imaging (P = 0.13). The rate of detection of pathological multifocal/multicentric breast cancer was markedly higher in patients who received preoperative MRI than in those who underwent conventional imaging alone (14.3% vs 8.6%, P < 0.01). The overall rate of surgical margin involvement was significantly lower in patients who received MRI (5.0%) than in those who received conventional imaging alone (9.0%) (P < 0.01). However, a significant reduction in rate of surgical margin positivity was only observed in patients who received BCS (Group A, 14.6%; Group B, 6.6%, P < 0.01). The overall BCS reoperation rates were 11.7% in the conventional imaging group and 3.2% in the combined MRI group (P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in rate of residual cancer in specimens obtained during reoperation between the 2 preoperative imaging groups (Group A, 50%; Group B, 81.8%, P = 0.09). In multivariate analysis, multifocal/multicentric breast cancer (odds ratio = 2.38, P = 0.02) and without MRI use (odds ratio = 2.35, P < 0.01) were the major predisposing factors to margin involvement in patients received BCS.Preoperative breast MRI combined with conventional breast imaging results in a lower rate of surgical margin involvement and reoperations in patients who receive BCS.

Preoperative clinicopathologic factors and breast magnetic resonance imaging features can predict ductal carcinoma in situ with invasive components.

PURPOSE: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) is a non-invasive cancerous breast lesion; however, from 10% to 50% of patients with DCIS diagnosed by core needle biopsy (CNB) or vacuum-assisted core biopsy (VACB) are shown to have invasive carcinoma after surgical excision. In this study, we evaluated whether preoperative clinicopathologic factors and breast magnetic resonance image (MRI) features are predictive of DCIS with invasive components before surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients comprised 128 adult women with a diagnosis of DCIS as determined by pathological analysis of CNB or VACB specimens and positive MRI findings who underwent breast surgery during the period January 2011 to December 2013 at the Changhua Christian Hospital. Clinicopathologic and breast MRI factors were compared between patients with postoperative pathology indicative of true DCIS and those with postoperative pathology showing DCIS with invasive components. RESULTS: Of the 128 patients with a preoperative diagnosis of DCIS, 73 (57.0%) had postoperative histopathologic evidence of true DCIS and 55 (43.0%) showed evidence of DCIS with invasive components. Results of statistical analyses revealed that MRI evidence of a mass-like lesion (P=0.025), nipple-areolar complex (NAC) invasion (P=0.029), larger tumor volume (P=0.010), larger maximum measurable apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) area (P=0.039), heterogenous or rim enhancement pattern (P=0.010), as well as immunohistochemical evidence of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER-2) overexpression (P=0.010) were predictive of DCIS with an invasive component in postoperative surgical specimens. CONCLUSION: Invasive component should be considered in biopsy proven DCIS patients with preoperative MRI evidence of a mass-like lesion, nipple-areolar complex invasion, large tumor volume, a larger maximum measurable ADC area, or a rim or heterogenous enhancement pattern, as well as in patients with immunohistochemical evidence of HER-2 overexpression.

Non-Invasive Evaluation of Hepatic Fibrosis: The Diagnostic Performance of Magnetic Resonance Elastography in Patients with Viral Hepatitis B or C.

PURPOSE: To compare the accuracy of magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) with that of aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) for estimating the stage of hepatic fibrosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively enrolled 160 patients with chronic hepatitis and 25 healthy living liver donors. Fibrosis stage (METAVIR, F0 to F4) was determined histopathologically for all patients. APRI was recorded at the time of histopathologic examination and liver stiffness values were measured on MRE quantitative stiffness maps. The cutoff values, sensitivity, and specificity of MRE and APRI for each fibrosis stage were determined using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. RESULTS: MRE had a significantly greater area under the ROC curve than APRI score for discriminating among METAVIR stages F2-F4. Using a cutoff value of 2.80 kPa, MRE had a sensitivity of 94.4% and a specificity of 97.8% for detecting significant fibrosis (≥F2). There were no significant differences in fibrosis stage between patients with HBV and those with HCV infection. For ≥F2, the cutoffs were 2.47 kPa (100% sensitivity), 2.80 kP (maximum sum of sensitivity and specificity), and 3.70 kPa (100% specificity). CONCLUSIONS: MRE is a more accurate modality than APRI for detecting significant fibrosis in patients with chronic HBV or HCV infection. Antiviral treatment should be considered in patients with liver stiffness values ≥ 2.8 kPa.

Efficacy of gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiography compared with T2-weighted magnetic resonance cholangiography in patients with liver cirrhosis.

BACKGROUND: Gadoxetic acid is one of the hepatobiliary-specific agents and so can be used for contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance cholangiography (CE-MRC). The aim of our study was to compare the performance of CE-MRC with that of T2-weighted magnetic resonance cholangiography (T2W-MRC), and also to ascertain the effectiveness of both modalities combined for visualizing anatomic structures of the biliary tree in patients with liver cirrhosis. METHODS: Fifty-six patients underwent CE-MRC and T2W-MRC imaging. In the CE-MRC studies, hepatobiliary phase images were acquired 20 minutes after contrast injection. Two radiologists first evaluated the T2W-MRC and CE-MRC images separately in random order, and then they reviewed both images together 8 weeks later. The readers graded the quality of visualization of each biliary duct and the entire biliary tree (overall rating) using a five-point scale. Images with a grade of 3 or 4 were considered to provide sufficient visualization for clinical application, and those with a grade of 2 or less were considered to provide insufficient visualization. Laboratory data, Child-Pugh classification, and model for end-stage liver disease score were also recorded. RESULTS: The overall rating of T2W-MRC was significantly higher than that of CE-MRC (p < 0.001), although combined T2W/CE-MRC provided better visualization of biliary segments than T2W-MRC alone (p = 0.025). There were no significant differences between liver function and the overall rating of CE-MRC. CONCLUSION: CE-MRC is not superior to conventional T2W-MRC with respect to biliary visualization in patients with liver cirrhosis. However, a combination of T2W-MRC and CE-MRC provides significantly better visualization of biliary structures than T2W-MRC alone.