Associations Between Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Values and the Prognostic Factors of Breast Cancer

Breast imaging can offer great information about breast cancer heterogeneity. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and various prognostic factors and investigate whether ADC values are useful for breast cancer diagnosis, evaluation of treatment response, and determination of prognosis.

A total of 111 cases of breast cancer were included in this study. Magnetic resonance findings were recorded according to the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System magnetic resonance imaging lexicon. Diffusion-weighted imaging rim sign and minimum, maximum, and difference ADC values (ADCdiff) were also evaluated.

ADCdiff was related to all prognostic factors such as histological grade, Ki-67, tumor size, molecular subtype, axillary node metastasis, lymphvascular invasion, internal enhancement pattern, intratumoral high T2 signal, peritumoral edema, and diffusion-weighted imaging rim sign, whereas minimum and maximum ADC values showed variable associations.

Apparent diffusion coefficient values were shown to be correlated with many proven or possible prognostic factors of breast cancer. In particular, ADCdiff can reflect tumor heterogeneity and showed higher correlation.