MRI can accurately diagnose breast cancer during lactation

To test the diagnostic performance of breast dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI during lactation.

Datasets of 198 lactating patients, including 66 pregnancy-associated breast cancer (PABC) patients and 132 controls, who were scanned by DCE on 1.5-T MRI, were retrospectively evaluated. Six blinded, expert radiologists independently read a single DCE maximal intensity projection (MIP) image for each case and were asked to determine whether malignancy was suspected and the background-parenchymal-enhancement (BPE) grade. Likewise, computer-aided diagnosis CAD MIP images were independently read by the readers. Contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) analysis was measured and compared among four consecutive acquisitions of DCE subtraction images.

For MIP-DCE images, the readers achieved the following means: sensitivity 93.3%, specificity 80.3%, positive-predictive-value 70.4, negative-predictive-value 96.2, and diagnostic accuracy of 84.6%, with a substantial inter-rater agreement (Kappa = 0.673, p value < 0.001). Most false-positive interpretations were attributed to either the MIP presentation, an underlying benign lesion, or an asymmetric appearance due to prior treatments. CAD's derived diagnostic accuracy was similar (p = 0.41). BPE grades were significantly increased in the healthy controls compared to the PABC cohort (p < 0.001). CNR significantly decreased by 11-13% in each of the four post-contrast images (p < 0.001).

Breast DCE MRI maintains its high efficiency among the lactating population, probably due to a vascular-steal phenomenon, which causes a significant reduction of BPE in cancer cases. Upon validation by prospective, multicenter trials, this study could open up the opportunity for breast MRI to be indicated in the screening and diagnosis of lactating patients, with the aim of facilitating an earlier diagnosis of PABC.

• A single DCE MIP image was sufficient to reach a mean sensitivity of 93.3% and NPV of 96.2%, to stress the high efficiency of breast MRI during lactation. • Reduction in BPE among PABC patients compared to the lactating controls suggests that several factors, including a possible vascular steal phenomenon, may affect cancer patients. • Reduction in CNR along four consecutive post-contrast acquisitions highlights the differences in breast carcinoma and BPE kinetics and explains the sufficient conspicuity on the first subtracted image.