Diffusion Weighted MRI of the Breast: Is there a Role for Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Values in the Prediction of Response & in the Early Assessment of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy?

Jyoti Parikh¹, Geoff Charles-Edwards²

Functional imaging is being increasingly used in the assessment of tumour response to cancer treatments. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) was performed on 35 patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) for breast cancer. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values pre-, mid-, and post-treatment were measured and compared to tumour size changes. Pre-treatment ADC values were lower, and greater changes in ADC values were seen prior to size changes, in the responders over non responders. These results suggest DWI may have a significant role in the prediction of and early assessment of response to NACT in breast cancer.