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Published on: December 15, 2014
Apparent diffusion coefficient in estrogen receptor-positive invasive ductal breast carcinoma: correlations with
Eun Sook Ko1, Boo-Kyung Han, Rock Bum Kim
1From the Departments of Radiology (E.S.K., B.K.H., E.Y.K., J.H.S., S.Y.H.), Pathology (E.Y.C., S.A.), and Surgery (S.J.N.), Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 50 Irwon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-710, South Korea; and Department of Preventive Medicine, Dong-A University School of Medicine, Busan, South Korea (R.B.K.).
Purpose:
To determine whether apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values vary according to tumor-stroma ratio, dominant stroma type, or presence of central fibrosis in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer.
Materials And Methods:
Institutional review board approval was obtained, and patient consent was waived. Sixty-one patients with estrogen receptor-positive invasive ductal carcinoma-not otherwise specified who underwent breast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with diffusion-weighted (DW) imaging were included in this study. The ADC values of the lesions were measured. Two pathologists evaluated the tumor-stroma ratio, dominant stroma type (collagen, fibroblast, lymphocyte), and central fibrosis. Detectability on DW images was compared between the two groups according to the tumor-stroma ratio (stroma rich or stroma poor). Mean ADC values were retrospectively compared with the tumor-stroma ratio, dominant stroma type, and presence of a central fibrosis. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to determine variables independently associated with ADC.
Results:
On DW images, detectability was not significantly different between stroma-rich and stroma-poor groups (P = .244). ADC values were significantly lower in the stroma-poor group (P < .001). The mean ADC values in the collagen-dominant type were lower than in fibroblast-dominant or lymphocyte-dominant types (P = .021). In multiple linear regression analysis, tumor-stroma ratio (P = .007), tumor size (P = .007), and dominant stroma type (collagen dominant, P = .029) were independently correlated with ADC.
Conclusion:
In estrogen receptor-positive breast cancers, ADC values showed significant differences according to the tumor-stroma ratio and dominant stroma type.
