Diagnostic values of diffusion tensor parameters in 3 T breast magnetic resonance imaging: Differentiation of breast tumors from bilateral healthy breast parenchyma

Abstract

Purpose: Our aim is to search diagnostic value of diffusion tensor parameters in the breast cancer.

Materials and Methods: We included 46 patients with contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the breast between the dates of July 2015 and December 2016. We measured fractional anisotropy (FA), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), relative anisotropy (RA) and volume ratio (VR) values of the malignant mass, ipsilateral and contralateral healthy breast parenchyma in each patient.

Results: ADC and VR values of the malignant lesions were significantly lower than normal parenchyma (P < 0.01). FA values were statistically higher in masses than normal breast parenchyma (P < 0.05). RA values were statistically higher in the mass than ipsilateral breast parenchyma (P < 0.01) but not significantly different from in contralateral breast parenchyma (P > 0.05). Only ADC values were statistically lower in contralateral side than ipsilateral breast parenchyma (P < 0.05) other parameters showed no statistical significance between parenchymas.

Conclusion: DTI findings, such as FA, ADC, RA and VR, provide significant contribution in differentiating cancer from healthy breast tissue.

Keywords: Breast cancer, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance