Iodinated Contrast Enhancement of Breast Cancer on Prone Multidetector Computed Tomography-Preliminary Findings

Contrast-enhanced breast imaging has gained increasing importance in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer. The aim of this study was to assess breast cancer enhancement after contrast administration on prone multidetector computed tomography (MDCT).

This retrospective, unicentric, institutional review board-approved study included patients with newly diagnosed breast cancer who were submitted to contrast-enhanced MDCT in prone position, with image acquisition before and after nonionic iodinated contrast administration.

Sixty breast cancer patients aged between 31 and 74 years (mean, 49 years) were included. Most patients (n = 50, 83.3%) had no special type invasive breast carcinoma and luminal subtype (n = 45, 75%). All index breast tumors were identified on prone MDCT. Forty-three cases (70.5%) presented as mass, 13 (21.3%) as nonmass enhancement and 4 (6.6%) as both mass and nonmass enhancement. Mean tumor density was 37.8 HU and 87.9 HU on precontrast and postcontrast images, respectively. Mean contrast enhancement was 50.2 HU (range, 20-109 HU). There were no statistically significant differences in tumor enhancement according to histological type, molecular subtype, nuclear grade, tumor size, or imaging presentation.

Our results show that breast cancer usually can be identified and have significant contrast enhancement on prone MDCT images. This method could be used as an alternative when other contrast-enhanced breast imaging methods are not available.