Estimating breast tumor blood flow during neoadjuvant chemotherapy using interleaved high temporal and high spatial resolution MRI

• Published in: Magnetic resonance in medicine 2018-01, Vol.79 (1), p.317-326
• Main Authors: Georgiou, Leonidas, Sharma, Nisha, Broadbent, David A., Wilson, Daniel J., Dall, Barbara J., Gangi, Anmol, Buckley, David L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Blood flow; breast; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - blood supply; Breast Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Breast Neoplasms - drug therapy; Chemotherapy; Computer Simulation; Contrast Media; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cyclophosphamide - administration & dosage; Data acquisition; DCE‐MRI; Epirubicin - administration & dosage; Feasibility Studies; Female; high temporal resolution; Humans; Magnetic permeability; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Membrane permeability; Middle Aged; Neoadjuvant Therapy; Permeability; Signal-To-Noise Ratio; Spatial data; Spatial discrimination; Spatial resolution; Strategy; Temporal resolution; tracer kinetic model; tumor blood flow
• ISSN: 0740-3194; 1522-2594
• DOI: 10.1002/mrm.26684

Purpose To evaluate an interleaved MRI sampling strategy that acquires both high temporal resolution (HTR) dynamic contrast‐enhanced (DCE) data for quantifying breast tumor blood flow (TBF) and high spatial resolution (HSR) DCE data for clinical reporting, following a single standard injection of contrast agent. Methods A simulation study was used to evaluate the performance of the interleaved technique under different conditions. In a prospective clinical study, 18 patients with primary breast cancer, who were due to undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT), were examined using interleaved HTR and HSR DCE‐MRI at 1.5 Tesla. Tumor regions of interest were analyzed with a two‐compartment tracer kinetic model. Paired parameters (n = 10) from the data acquired before and post–cycle 2 of NACT were compared using the nonparametric Wilcoxon signed‐rank test. Results Simulations demonstrated that TBF was reliably estimated using the proposed strategy. The region of interest analysis revealed significant changes in TBF (0.81–0.43 mL/min/mL; P = 0.002) following two cycles of NACT. The HSR data were reported in the normal way and enabled the assessment of tumor volume, which decreased by 53% following NACT (P = 0.065). Conclusions TBF can be measured reliably using the proposed strategy without compromising a standard clinical protocol. Furthermore, in our feasibility study, TBF decreased significantly following NACT, whereas capillary permeability surface‐area product did not. Magn Reson Med 79:317–326, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.