Related Experiment Video For Breast neoplasms
Updated: Oct 20, 2025
Tracking the Mammary Architectural Features and Detecting Breast Cancer with Magnetic Resonance Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Published on: December 15, 2014
Improved value of whole-lesion histogram analysis on DCE parametric maps for diagnosing small breast cancer (≤ 1 cm)
Tianwen Xie1,2, Qiufeng Zhao3, Caixia Fu4
1Department of Radiology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, No. 270 Dong'an Road, Shanghai, 200032, People's Republic of China.
Objectives:
To determine if whole-lesion histogram analysis on dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) parametric maps help to improve the diagnostic accuracy of small suspicious breast lesions (≤ 1 cm).
Methods:
This retrospective study included 99 female patients with 114 lesions (40 malignant and 74 benign lesions) suspicious on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).Two radiologists reviewed all lesions and descripted the morphologic and kinetic characteristics according to BI-RADS by consensus. Whole lesions were segmented on DCE parametric maps (washin and washout), and quantitative histogram features were extracted. Univariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression analysis with forward stepwise covariate selection were performed to identify significant variables. Diagnostic performance was assessed and compared with that of qualitative BI-RADS assessment and quantitative histogram analysis by ROC analysis.
Results:
For malignancy defined as a washout or plateau pattern, the qualitative kinetic pattern showed a significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.023), yielding an AUC of 0.603 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.507, 0.694). The mean and median of washout were independent quantitative predictors of malignancy (p = 0.002, 0.010), achieving an AUC of 0.796 (95% CI: 0. 709, 0.865). The AUC of the quantitative model was better than that of the qualitative model (p < 0.001).
Conclusions:
Compared with the qualitative BI-RADS assessment, quantitative whole-lesion histogram analysis on DCE parametric maps was better to discriminate between small benign and malignant breast lesions (≤ 1 cm) initially defined as suspicious on DCE-MRI.
Key Points:
• For malignancy defined as a washout or plateau, the kinetic pattern may provide information to diagnose small breast cancer. • The mean and median of washout map were significantly lower for small malignant breast lesions than for benign lesions. • Quantitative histogram analysis on MRI parametric maps improves diagnostic accuracy for small breast cancer, which may obviate unnecessary biopsy.
