ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the multi-modal MRI characteristics of breast cancers in dense breasts.Methods 120 patients with breast cancer shown on mammography underwent breast MRI,which were solitary and confirmed by pathological examination. According to the BI-RADS classification of breast,the 120 cases were divided into two groups including dense type breast and non-dense type one.The differences in morphological features,ADC values (b=1 000 s/mm2 )and time-signal intensity curve (TIC)of the lesions between two groups were analyzed and compared.Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS1 6.0.Results The breast cancers in dense breast were vulnerable to have a spiculated margin (44/68 in the dense breast group vs.1 6/52 in the non-dense breast group,P =0.000).The size of the lesion in dense breast (1.83 ±0.98)cm was bigger than that in non-dense breast (1.40±0.46)cm (P =0.005).The non-mass-like enhancement of the lesion in dense breast was much more than that in non-dense breast (P =0.000).In addition,the average ADC values of the lesion in dense breast (0.89±0.12)×10 -3 mm2/s were lower than in non-dense breast (0.95±0.10)×10 -3 mm2/s(P =0.01 6).Conclusion The breast cancer in the dense breast has different MRI findings in comparison with non-dense breast.