Published November 2019 | Version v1
Journal article

Correlation between quantitative assessment of contrast enhancement in contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) and histopathology—preliminary results

  • 1. Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology, Department of Radiology (Poland)
  • 2. Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology, Department of Systemic and Generalized Malignancies (Poland)
  • 3. Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology, Department of Gynecologic Oncology (Poland)
  • 4. Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology, Department of Oncology (Poland)
  • 5. University of Colorado – Denver, School of Medicine, Radiology Department (United States)

Description

Objectives

Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CESM) is a novel method for breast cancer detection. The aim of this study is to check if there is a possibility of quantitative assessment of contrast enhancement in CESM and if there is any correlation between quantitative assessment of contrast enhancement in CESM and histopathology.

Methods

A total of 167 female patients underwent CESM. All subjects previously had suspicious lesions found on mammography, breast ultrasound, or both. After imaging, the following parameters were evaluated: number of enhancing lesions in each breast and size and degree of enhancement of each lesion. Based on the collected data, the percentage signal difference between enhancing lesion and background (%RS) and signal-difference-to-noise ratio (SDNR) were measured for each lesion.

Results

The number of lesions detected in the study population was 195. Among all diagnosed lesions, 120 (62%) were assessed to be infiltrating cancers, 16 (8%) non-infiltrating cancers, and 59 (30%) were benign. Thirteen (7%) lesions did not enhance in CESM; all non-enhancing lesions were confirmed to be benign under histopathological examination. Analysis of enhancement indices showed that signal values within lesions and signal values within background ROIs (regions of interest) were similar in CC (craniocaudal) and MLO (mediolateral) projections. Mean %RS values were correlated with the type of enhancing lesion, infiltrating cancers having the highest values, benign lesions the lowest.

Conclusions

This work has demonstrated a significant correlation between the degree of lesion enhancement in CESM and malignancy. Quantitative analysis of enhancement levels in CESM can distinguish between invasive cancers and benign or in situ lesions.

Key Points

• There is a possibility of quantitative assessment of contrast enhancement in CESM.

• Correlation between quantitative assessment of contrast enhancement in CESM and histopathology was observed.

Additional details

Identifiers

Publishing Information

Journal Title
European Radiology
Journal Volume
29
Journal Issue
11
Journal Page Range
p. 6220-6226
ISSN
0938-7994
CODEN
EURAE3

INIS

Country of Publication
Germany
Country of Input or Organization
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
INIS RN
54094583
Subject category
S62: RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE;
Descriptors DEI
BIOMEDICAL RADIOGRAPHY; CONTRAST MEDIA; MAMMARY GLANDS; NEOPLASMS; PATIENTS
Descriptors DEC
BODY; DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES; DISEASES; GLANDS; MEDICINE; NUCLEAR MEDICINE; ORGANS; RADIOLOGY

Optional Information

Copyright
Copyright (c) 2019 The Author(s)