The differential features of MRI between male benign and malignant breast lesions / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the differential diagnosis of MRI between male malignant and benign breast lesions.Methods:Totally 34 patients with male breast lesions who underwent breast MRI examination from January 2011 to March 2019 were collected from Shanghai Cancer Center.All images were evaluated by two radiologists who were blinded to pathological results. When there was a disagreement, another independent senior radiologist assessed the imaging features. The imaging features including lesion location, T 1WI signal, T 2WI signal, lesion type and accompanying signs were evaluated. All lesions were confirmed by biopsy or surgical pathology. Twelve patients were in benign group, 22 patients in malignant group. The imaging findings of MRI were recorded and statistically analyzed by univariate analysis (continuous variables were tested by Mann-Whitney U test and categorical variables were tested by Fisher′s exact test). Results:Among the 34 patients, 31 cases clinically touched the mass and 3 cases showed simple nipple bleeding. In MRI signs, breast cancer showed mass-like enhancement (22/22), benign lesions showed non-mass enhancement (7/12), the difference was statistically significant ( P<0.05). And ipsilateral axillary enlarged lymph nodes only appeared in breast cancer, which was significantly different from that in benign lesions ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in age, lesion location, T 1WI signal, T 2WI signal, skin thickening and nipple invagination between benign and malignant lesions. There was no significant difference in the size, shape and edge of the mass between benign and malignant lesions on MRI ( P>0.05). Conclusions:MRI can distinguish male malignant and benign breast lesions. Most of non-mass enhancement are benign lesion and enlarged lymph nodes are helpful to detect breast cancer, nipple retraction and skin thickening in the diagnosis of male breast cancer are limited.