Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Brain Metastases in Patients with Breast Cancer According to Molecular Subtypes

Background and Purpose: Recent studies have shown that diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters are used to follow the patients with breast cancer and correlate well as a prognostic parameter of breast cancer. However, as far as we know, there is no data to compare the DTI features of breast cancer brain metastases according to molecular subtypes in the literature. Our aim is to evaluate whether there are any differences in DTI parameters of brain metastases in patients with breast cancer according to molecular subtypes. Methods: Twenty-seven patients with breast cancer and 82 metastatic brain lesions were included. We classified subjects into three subgroups according to their hormone expression; Group 0, triple- negative (n; 6, 19 lesions), group 1, HER2-positive (n;16, 54 lesions) and group 2, hormone-- positive group (n; 5, 9 lesions). The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), fractional anisotropy (FA), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) values in DTI were measured and compared between three groups. Results: ADC, AD and RD values of group 2 were significantly lower compared to group 0. No significant differences were found in FA, ADC, AD and RD values between the group 0 and 1 and the group 1 and 2. Conclusion: Metastasis of aggressive triple-negative breast cancer showed higher ADC values compared to the less aggressive hormone-positive group. Higher ADC values in brain metastases of breast cancer may indicate a poor prognosis, so DTI findings could play a role in planning appropriate treatment.