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Updated: Mar 7, 2026
Tracking the Mammary Architectural Features and Detecting Breast Cancer with Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: December 15, 2014
Diffuse optical tomography changes correlate with residual cancer burden after neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast
Emerson A Lim1, Jacqueline E Gunther2, Hyun K Kim3
1Division of Hematology/Oncology, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, 161 Fort Washington Avenue, 9th Floor, New York, NY, 10032, USA. el2342@cumc.columbia.edu.
Purpose:
Breast cancer (BC) patients who achieve a favorable residual cancer burden (RCB) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) have an improved recurrence-free survival. Those who have an unfavorable RCB will have gone through months of ineffective chemotherapy. No ideal method exists to predict a favorable RCB early during NACT. Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) is a novel imaging modality that uses near-infrared light to assess hemoglobin concentrations within breast tumors. We hypothesized that the 2-week percent change in DOT-measured hemoglobin concentrations would associate with RCB.
Methods:
We conducted an observational study of 40 women with stage II-IIIC BC who received standard NACT. DOT imaging was performed at baseline and 2 weeks after treatment initiation. We evaluated the associations between the RCB index (continuous measure), class (categorical 0, I, II, III), and response (RCB class 0/I = favorable, RCB class II/III = unfavorable) with changes in DOT-measured hemoglobin concentrations.
Results:
The RCB index correlated significantly with the 2-week percent change in oxyhemoglobin [HbO2] (r = 0.5, p = 0.003), deoxyhemoglobin [Hb] (r = 0.37, p = 0.03), and total hemoglobin concentrations [HbT] (r = 0.5, p = 0.003). The RCB class and response significantly associated with the 2-week percent change in [HbO2] (p ≤ 0.01) and [HbT] (p ≤ 0.02). [HbT] 2-week percent change had sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative predictive values for a favorable RCB response of 86.7, 68.4, 68.4, and 86.7%, respectively.
Conclusion:
The 2-week percent change in DOT-measured hemoglobin concentrations was associated with the RCB index, class, and response. DOT may help guide NACT for women with BC.
