Effect of background parenchymal enhancement on breast cancer detection with magnetic resonance imaging

• Published in: Diagnostic and interventional imaging Vol. 97; no. 3; pp. 315 - 320
• Main Authors: Telegrafo, M, Rella, L, Stabile Ianora, A.A, Angelelli, G, Moschetta, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: France Elsevier Masson SAS 01.03.2016
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Breast; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Breast parenchymal enhancement; Female; Humans; Image Enhancement - methods; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Middle Aged; MRI; Parenchymal Tissue - diagnostic imaging; Radiology; Retrospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; Breast; Breast parenchymal enhancement; Breast cancer; MRI
• ISSN: 2211-5684; 2211-5684
• DOI: 10.1016/j.diii.2015.12.006

Abstract Objective To investigate whether background parenchymal enhancement ( BPE) may influence the sensitivity of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (DCE-MR) imaging in breast cancer detection. Materials and methods A total of 180 consecutive women with 194 breast cancers underwent MR imaging examination. Women were assigned to two different groups depending on the degree of BPE. Group 1 consisted of women with minimal or mild BPE and group 2 of women with moderate or marked BPE. The distributions of histotypes of tumors within the two groups were compared using the χ2 test. Difference in sensitivities of DCE-MR imaging for tumor detection between the two groups was searched for using the Student t -test. Results No differences in terms of distributions of histotypes of tumors between the two groups of women were found ( P = 0.5). The 11% difference in sensitivity of DCE-MR imaging for tumor detection between group 1 (91/92; 99%; 95% CI: 94–100%) and group 2 (90/102; 88%; 95% CI: 80–94%) was statistically significant ( P = 0.0058). Conclusion The sensitivity of DCE-MR imaging is significantly lower in women with moderate and marked BPE as compared with women with minimal and mild BPE regardless of cancer histotype. BPE could represent a limitation for breast MR imaging interpretation and should be indicated in MR imaging reports.