Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 2, 2026
Heterogeneity Mapping of Protein Expression in Tumors using Quantitative Immunofluorescence
Published on: October 25, 2011
Interim heterogeneity changes measured using entropy texture features on T2-weighted MRI at 3.0 T are associated with
Shelley Henderson1, Colin Purdie2, Caroline Michie3
1Department of Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee, UK, DD1 9SY. shelley.henderson1@nhs.net.
Objectives:
To investigate whether interim changes in hetereogeneity (measured using entropy features) on MRI were associated with pathological residual cancer burden (RCB) at final surgery in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for primary breast cancer.
Methods:
This was a retrospective study of 88 consenting women (age: 30-79 years). Scanning was performed on a 3.0 T MRI scanner prior to NAC (baseline) and after 2-3 cycles of treatment (interim). Entropy was derived from the grey-level co-occurrence matrix, on slice-matched baseline/interim T2-weighted images. Response, assessed using RCB score on surgically resected specimens, was compared statistically with entropy/heterogeneity changes and ROC analysis performed. Association of pCR within each tumour immunophenotype was evaluated.
Results:
Mean entropy percent differences between examinations, by response category, were: pCR: 32.8%, RCB-I: 10.5%, RCB-II: 9.7% and RCB-III: 3.0%. Association of ultimate pCR with coarse entropy changes between baseline/interim MRI across all lesions yielded 85.2% accuracy (area under ROC curve: 0.845). Excellent sensitivity/specificity was obtained for pCR prediction within each immunophenotype: ER+: 100%/100%; HER2+: 83.3%/95.7%, TNBC: 87.5%/80.0%.
Conclusions:
Lesion T2 heterogeneity changes are associated with response to NAC using RCB scores, particularly for pCR, and can be useful across all immunophenotypes with good diagnostic accuracy.
Key Points:
• Texture analysis provides a means of measuring lesion heterogeneity on MRI images. • Heterogeneity changes between baseline/interim MRI can be linked with ultimate pathological response. • Heterogeneity changes give good diagnostic accuracy of pCR response across all immunophenotypes. • Percentage reduction in heterogeneity is associated with pCR with good accuracy and NPV.
