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Evaluating dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI for differentiating HER2-zero, HER2-low, and HER2-positive breast cancers in patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy

  • 0Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
European Journal of Medical Research +

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February 26, 2025

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February 26, 2025

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) reveals perfusion differences in HER2-low breast cancer (BC). An optimal imaging model can predict HER2-low BC before treatment, aiding clinical decisions.

Area Of Science

  • Oncology
  • Radiology
  • Medical Imaging

Background

  • HER2-low breast cancer (BC) presents unique challenges in treatment response and prediction.
  • Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) offers quantitative perfusion parameters that may differentiate HER2 statuses.

Purpose Of The Study

  • To quantitatively assess DCE-MRI parameter differences across HER2-zero, HER2-low, and HER2-positive breast cancer tumors.
  • To develop an optimal predictive model for early identification of HER2-low breast cancer.

Main Methods

  • Retrospective analysis of clinical and DCE-MRI data from 220 breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT).
  • Comparison of quantitative and semi-quantitative DCE-MRI parameters before and after early NACT across HER2 groups.
  • Development of predictive models using logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Main Results

  • HER2-low BC showed lower pathological complete response (pCR) rates compared to HER2-zero and HER2-positive BC.
  • Pre-NACT DCE-MRI revealed distinct intratumoral and peritumoral perfusion characteristics in HER2-low BC.
  • Post-NACT, perfusion changes were more pronounced in HER2-low BC, with combined models achieving high predictive accuracy (AUC up to 0.850).

Conclusions

  • Significant perfusion heterogeneity exists between different HER2 statuses in breast cancer.
  • An optimized DCE-MRI model, incorporating pre- and post-NACT data, serves as a non-invasive tool for predicting HER2-low BC.
  • This predictive capability can assist in pre-treatment clinical decision-making for breast cancer patients.

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