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Tracking the Mammary Architectural Features and Detecting Breast Cancer with Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: December 15, 2014
Breast cancer tumor size: correlation between magnetic resonance imaging and pathology measurements
Jill K Onesti1, Barry E Mangus, Stephen D Helmer
1Department of Surgery, The University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita, Wichita, KS, USA.
Background:
As physicians increasingly use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the evaluation of newly diagnosed breast cancers, a review of the correlation between MRI and pathology tumor size is imperative.
Methods:
A retrospective review of 91 breast tumors comparing preoperative MRI tumor size to final pathology tumor size was performed.
Results:
MRI and pathology tumor size were positively correlated (R = .650), but with an average overestimation by MRI of .63 cm (P <.0001). When stratified by MRI tumor size (< or = 2.0 cm and > 2.0 cm), a significant difference was found only in tumors greater than 2.0 cm (average overestimation = 1.06 cm; P <.0001). This trend continued for the histological subtypes of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), and invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC).
Conclusions:
MRI tumor size correlates with pathology size; however, a significant overestimation exists, particularly for tumors > 2.0 cm. Clinicians should therefore use caution in relying on MRI tumor size in determining candidacy for breast conservation therapy (BCT).
