Is there a correlation between signal intensity ratio of 3T MRI and molecular subtypes of breast cancer?

Abstract

Background. The study aimed to test whether tumoral signal intensity ratio (SIR) and other indicators of 3T MRI provides information related to molecular subtypes of breast cancer.

Materials and methods. 263 women with breast lesions (BI-RADS 4–5) underwent 3T MRI. Breast cancers were defined four molecular subtypes: Luminal-A, Luminal-B, HER2-enriched and triple-negative (TN). Kruskal-Wallis test and logistic regression analysis were performed to investigate correlations between the four molecular subtypes and MRI indicators (T1 SIR, T2 SIR, ADC, lesion diameter, margins, time signal strength curve (TIC)). A ROC analysis was finally performed to test the diagnostic power of multivariate logistic regression model.  

Results. 194 patients (201 lesions) were considered. TN subtype exhibited the highest T2 SIR. Luminal-B subtype had the lowest T2 SIR and ADC values. Lesion diameters were the smallest in luminal-A subtype and the largest in TN subtype. Logistic regression analysis revealed that lower T1 SIR, higher T2 SIR, and higher ADC values were significantly associated with TN subtype. Lower T2 SIR, lower ADC values, and fewer cases of axillary lymph node metastasis (ALNM) were associated with luminal-B subtype. T1 SIR and T2 SIR combined parameters achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.737 when distinguishing TN subtype from the others.

Conclusions. A significant correlation was found between some MRI quantitative features and molecular subtypes of breast cancer. T1 SIR and T2 SIR combined parameters have potentially good diagnostic value in distinguishing TN subtype.

Key words: Breast cancer; Signal intensity ratio; Molecular subtype; MRI