Breast Amide Proton Transfer Imaging at 3 T: Diagnostic Performance and Association With Pathologic Characteristics.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Amide proton transfer (APT) imaging has been increasingly applied in tumor characterization. However, its value in evaluating breast cancer remains undetermined.

PURPOSE:

To assess the diagnostic performance of APT imaging in breast cancer and its association with prognostic histopathologic characteristics.

STUDY TYPE:

Prospective.

SUBJECTS:

Eighty-four patients with breast lesions.

FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE:

A 3.0 T/single-shot fast spin echo APT imaging.

ASSESSMENT:

APTw signal in breast lesion was quantified. Lesion malignancy, T stage, grades, Ki-67 index, molecular biomarkers (estrogen receptor [ER] expression, progesterone receptor [PR] expression, human epidermal growth factor receptor [HER-2] expression), molecular subtypes (luminal A, luminal B, triple negative, and HER-2 enriched) were determined.

STATISTICAL TESTS:

Student t-test, one-way analysis of variance, receiver operating characteristic analysis, and Pearson's correlation with P < 0.05 as statistical significance.

RESULTS:

APTw signal was significantly higher in malignant lesions (1.55% ± 1.24%) than in benign lesions (0.54% ± 1.13%), and in grade III lesions than in grade II lesions (1.65% ± 0.84% vs. 0.96% ± 0.96%), and in T2- (1.57% ± 0.64%) and T3-stage lesions (1.54% ± 0.63%) than in T1-stage lesions (0.81% ± 0.64%) for invasive breast carcinoma of no special type. APTw signal significantly correlated with Ki-67 index (r = 0.364) but showed no significant difference in groups of ER (P = 0.069), PR (P = 0.069), HER-2 (P = 0.961), and among molecular subtypes (P = 0.073).

DATA CONCLUSION:

APT imaging shows potential in differentiating breast lesion malignancy and associates with prognosis-related tumor grade, T stage, and proliferative activity.

EVIDENCE LEVEL:

2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.

• Authors: Zhou Liu, Jie Wen, Meng Wang, Ya Ren, Qian Yang, Long Qian, Honghong Luo, Sha Feng, Cuiju He, Xin Liu, Yin Wu, Dehong Luo
• Journal: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI (J Magn Reson Imaging) Vol. 57 Issue 3 Pg. 824-833 (03 2023) ISSN: 1522-2586 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 35816177 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2022 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Chemical References

• Protons
• Amides
• Ki-67 Antigen

Topics

• Humans
• Female
• Protons
• Amides
• Ki-67 Antigen (metabolism)
• Prospective Studies
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (methods)
• Breast Neoplasms (metabolism)