Comparative Analysis of CEM and Breast MRI: A Retrospective Study

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Oncology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Accurate preoperative assessment is vital for breast cancer treatment planning.
• Breast MRI is a sensitive tool for detection, staging, and treatment response assessment.
• Contrast-enhanced spectral mammography (CEM) is an emerging alternative with similar diagnostic performance and shorter scan times.

Purpose of the Study:

• To retrospectively compare the accuracy of CEM and MRI in measuring breast cancer extent.
• To evaluate the correlation of both modalities with postoperative histopathology findings.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 58 breast cancer patients who underwent both CEM and MRI.
• Comparison of lesion size measurements between CEM, MRI, and surgical specimens.
• Statistical analysis using Wilcoxon signed-rank test and Pearson correlation.

Main Results:

• No significant difference in average tumor size between CEM and MRI (p=0.1058).
• Both modalities showed similar measurement precision compared to histopathology (12.9 mm vs. 12.2 mm absolute mean difference).
• CEM demonstrated a slightly stronger correlation with histopathology in size measurement (r=0.7858) compared to MRI (r=0.6726).

Conclusions:

• CEM is a viable alternative to MRI for preoperative breast cancer assessment.
• Both CEM and MRI exhibit high sensitivity and correlate strongly with histopathology.
• Further research is needed to establish CEM's role in routine clinical practice.