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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Gabe Cheung, Dr Jiabao He
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Copyright © 2024 Ayoub, Cheung, Maglan, Senn, Chan and He.Introduction: Ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) accounts for 25% of newly diagnosed breast cancer cases with only 14%–53% developing into invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC), but currently overtreated due to inadequate accuracy of mammography. Subtypes of calcification, discernible from histology, has been suggested to have prognostic value in DCIS, while the lipid composition of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids may be altered in de novo synthesis with potential sensitivity to the difference between DCIS and IDC. We therefore set out to examine calcification using ultra short echo time (UTE) MRI and lipid composition using chemical shift-encoded imaging (CSEI), as markers for histological calcification classification, in the initial ex vivo step towards in vivo application. Methods: Twenty female patients, with mean age (range) of 57 (35–78) years, participated in the study. Intra- and peri-tumoural degree of calcification and peri-tumoural lipid composition were acquired on MRI using UTE and CSEI, respectively. Ex vivo imaging was conducted on the freshly excised breast tumour specimens immediately after surgery. Histopathological analysis was conducted to determine the calcification status, Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI), and proliferative activity marker Ki-67. Results: Intra-tumoural degree of calcification in malignant classification (1.05 ± 0.13) was significantly higher (p = 0.012) against no calcification classification (0.84 ± 0.09). Peri-tumoural degree of calcification in malignant classification (1.64 ± 0.10) was significantly higher (p = 0.033) against no calcification classification (1.41 ± 0.18). Peri-tumoural MUFA in malignant classification (0.40 ± 0.01) was significantly higher (p = 0.039) against no calcification classification (0.38 ± 0.02). Ki-67 showed significant negative correlation against peri-tumoural MUFA (p = 0.043, ρ = −0.457), significant positive correlation against SFA (p = 0.008, ρ = 0.577), and significant negative correlation against PUFA (p = 0.002, ρ = −0.653). Conclusion: The intra- and peri-tumoural degree of calcification and peri-tumoural MUFA are sensitive to histological calcification classes supporting future investigation into DCIS prognosis.
Author(s): Ayoub Y, Cheung SM, Maglan B, Senn N, Chan K-S, He J
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Frontiers in Oncology
Year: 2024
Volume: 14
Online publication date: 17/12/2024
Acceptance date: 25/11/2024
Date deposited: 25/02/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2234-943X
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
URL: https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2024.1475090
DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1475090
Data Access Statement: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
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