Role of Diffusion MRI, Volumetry and Tumor Necrosis in the Assessment of the Response of Breast Cancer after Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy (NAST)

Korashi, Hazem Ibrahim; Elwasly, Nancy Tarek; Kamal, Kamal Mamdouh; Mosaad, Basant Mohamed Raief

doi:10.21608/asmj.2025.379801.1441

Role of Diffusion MRI, Volumetry and Tumor Necrosis in the Assessment of the Response of Breast Cancer after Neoadjuvant Systemic Therapy (NAST)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of Radiodiagnosis, Faculty of medicine, Ain shams University, Cairo, Egypt

² Department of oncology, Faculty of Medicine , Ain Shams University , Cairo, Egypt

³ Department of General Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

10.21608/asmj.2025.379801.1441

Abstract

Background: To study the role of diffusion MRI, volumetry, tumor necrosis in the assessment of the response of breast cancer after neoadjuvant systemic therapy (NAST)
Results: Only 88 patients completed the study, with a mean age of 56 years old. Among these patients, 72 were categorized as respondents and 16 as non-respondents. The signal criteria changes of DCE, DWI, and ADC values, as well as the tumor volume, were significant among the respondents with a significant p value<0.001. No significant association between tumor necrosis volume and complete pathological response (p value=0.96).
Conclusion: The combination of DCE, volumetry, and diffusion as well as the ADC changes increase the ability and power of the MRI examination as a tool for assessment of the breast malignant neoplasms after NAST. No significant associations between the necrosis of breast cancer lesion by pre-therapy MRI and the collective image characteristics regarding the tumor necrosis.

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