J Korean Soc Radiol.  2017 Mar;76(3):191-197. 10.3348/jksr.2017.76.3.191.

Breast MRI in Pregnancy-Associated Breast Cancer

• Kim SJ
• Lim HS
• Baek JM
• Seon HJ
• Heo SH
• Kim JW
• Shin SS
• Park MH

• KMID: 2371685
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3348/jksr.2017.76.3.191

Abstract

PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of MR imaging and to describe the MR imaging findings of pregnancy-associated breast cancer.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
From 2006 to 2013, MR images of 23 patients with pregnancy-associated breast cancer were retrospectively evaluated. MR images were reviewed to evaluate lesion detection and imaging findings of pregnancy-associated breast cancer. MR images were analyzed by using the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System and an additional MR-detected lesion with no mammographic or sonographic abnormality was determined.
RESULTS
MR imaging depicted breast cancer in all patients, even in marked background parenchymal enhancement. Pregnancy-associated breast cancer was seen as a mass in 20 patients and as non-mass enhancement with segmental distribution in 3 patients. The most common features of the masses were irregular shape (85%), non-circumscribed margin (85%), and heterogeneous enhancement (60%). An additional site of cancer was detected with MR imaging in 5 patients (21.7%) and the type of surgery was changed.
CONCLUSION
Pregnancy-associated breast cancer was usually seen as an irregular mass with heterogeneous enhancement on MR images. Although these findings were not specific, MR imaging was useful in evaluating the disease extent of pregnancy-associated breast cancer.

MeSH Terms

Breast Neoplasms*
Breast*
Female
Humans
Information Systems
Lactation
Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Complications, Neoplastic
Retrospective Studies
Ultrasonography

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1. A 33-year-old lactating woman with invasive carcinoma of no special type in the right breast. A. Ultrasound image shows an irregular hypoechoic mass in the palpable area of the right breast. An invasive ductal carcinoma was confirmed by an ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy. B. An axial fat-suppressed T2-weighted fast spin-echo MR image shows a large mass with low signal intensity (arrows). Note the extreme fibroglandular tissue and high signal intensity of the contralateral normal lactating breast. C, D. An axial contrast-enhanced fat-suppressed subtraction T1-weighted MR image shows a rim-enhancing mass (arrow in C) in the upper right breast. In addition, segmental non-mass enhancement is seen in the upper outer right breast (arrowheads in D) that extends more than 4.0 cm, which was confirmed to be ductal carcinoma in situ on pathologic examination. Note the marked background parenchymal enhancement of the contralateral breast.

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