ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: For assessing the predictability of oncology neoadjuvant therapy results, the background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) parameter in breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has acquired increased interest. This work aims to qualitatively evaluate the BPE parameter as a potential predictive marker for neoadjuvant therapy. METHOD: Three radiologists examined, in triple-blind modality, the MRIs of 80 patients performed before the start of chemotherapy, after three months from the start of treatment, and after surgery. They identified the portion of fibroglandular tissue (FGT) and BPE of the contralateral breast to the tumor in the basal control pre-treatment (baseline). RESULTS: We observed a reduction of BPE classes in serial MRI checks performed during neoadjuvant therapy, as compared to baseline pre-treatment conditions, in 61.3% of patients in the intermediate step, and in 86.7% of patients in the final step. BPE reduction was significantly associated with sequential anthracyclines/taxane administration in the first cycle of neoadjuvant therapy compared to anti-HER2 containing therapies. The therapy response was also significantly related to tumor size. There were no associations with menopausal status, fibroglandular tissue (FGT) amount, age, BPE baseline, BPE in intermediate, and in the final MRI step. CONCLUSIONS: The measured variability of this parameter during therapy could predict therapy effectiveness in early stages, improving decision-making in the perspective of personalized medicine. Our preliminary results suggest that BPE may represent a predictive factor in response to neoadjuvant therapy in breast cancer, warranting future investigations in conjunction with radiomics.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the contribution of contrast-enhanced MR-colonography (CE-MR-C) for the diagnosis of intestinal endometriosis. METHODS: One hundred and four women with suspected endometriosis were prospectively enrolled. All patients were subjected to MRI consisting of two phases: pelvic high-resolution MRI (HR-MRI) followed by CE-MR-C after colonic distension using a 1.5-liter water enema and injection of 0.15 ml/kg of 0.5 M gadolinium-DTPA with T1w high-resolution isotropic volume (THRIVE) and balanced turbo field echo (BTFE) images. HR-MRI and CE-MR-C were considered as two datasets, which were independently reviewed by two radiologists with 12 and 2 years' experience respectively. The presence of deep pelvic endometriotic lesions with particular attention to colorectal involvement was recorded. RESULTS: MRI findings correlated with laparoscopy in all cases. Thanks to CE-MR-C images, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV and accuracy for diagnosis of colorectal endometriosis increased from 76%, 96%, 84%, 93% and 91%, to 95%, 97%, 91%, 99% and 97% for the most experienced radiologist and from 62%, 93%, 72%, 89% and 85%, to 86%, 94%, 82%, 96% and 92% for the less experienced radiologist; moreover, the interobserver agreement increased from 0.63 to 0.80 (Cohen's K test). CONCLUSION: CE-MR-C allows easier recognition of colorectal endometriosis and higher interobserver agreement.
