Changes in background parenchymal enhancement in HER2-positive breast cancer before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: Association with pathologic complete response

This study aimed to analyze the relationship between pathologic complete response (pCR) and changes in background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) levels in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer and who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). The pre- and post-NAC magnetic resonance imaging results of 51 patients with confirmed unilateral HER2-positive breast cancer were retrospectively analyzed by 2 experienced radiologists. Pre- and post-NAC of contralateral BPE levels were classified into 4 categories (1 = minimal, 2 = mild, 3 = moderate, and 4 = marked). The 4 categories of BPE were defined by the visually estimated enhancement of fibroglandular tissue of the breast. Changes in BPE before and after NAC were compared between the premenopausal and postmenopausal groups and between the pCR and non-pCR groups. The associations between BPE and pCR and between BPE and tumor size were analyzed before and after NAC. Twenty-three patients achieved pCR, and 28 patients achieved non-pCR. Premenopausal patients had significantly higher baseline BPE levels than postmenopausal women (P = .023). The post-NAC BPE levels of premenopausal patients significantly decreased relative to those of postmenopausal patients (P = .027). The baseline BPE levels of the pCR group were not significantly different from those of the non-pCR group (P = .892). However, the decrease in BPE levels in the pCR group was more drastic than...
Source: Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Tags: Research Article: Observational Study Source Type: research