Imaging in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Therapy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 December 2024 | Viewed by 3437

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Breast Unit, Gynecology Section, Department of Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
Interests: breast cancer treatment; prognostic factors; sentinel lymph node; individualized treatment; ovarian cancer; endometrial cancer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Diagnostic Senology Unit, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi, Florence, Italy
Interests: breast ultrasound; mammography; breast MRI; contrast-enhanced mammography, breast tomosynthesis; percutaneous ablation techniques of breast lesions
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Breast cancer is the most frequent female malignancy worldwide and research on its diagnosis and treatment is continuously ongoing. Imaging techniques for breast cancer diagnosis have recently undergone considerable progress, not only leading to improvements of the classic tools like mammography and breast ultrasound, but also introducing more sophisticated techniques like breast MRI and, more recently, contrast-enhanced mammography.  These latter techniques have greatly modified the standard management of preoperative assessment of women with breast cancer, with significant impact on the choice of surgical procedure. Indeed, progress in breast imaging has greatly contributed to improved clinical outcomes. However, there are some controversies related to the proper use of these technologies. In addition, the development of new systems to remove or destroy diseased tissues, including vacuum-assisted excision (VAE), thermoablation, cryoablation and high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), have allowed the introduction of new image-guided minimally invasive approaches to the treatment of breast lesions. The aim of this Special Issue is to provide an update on the role of new and old imaging techniques in the diagnosis and treatment of breast lesions.

Authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts, either original research, metanalysis or review articles, contributing to the advancement of knowledge and to the discussion on these topics.

Dr. Tommaso Susini
Dr. Jacopo Nori Cucchiari
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • mammography
  • breast ultrasound
  • axillary ultrasound
  • breast MRI
  • contrast-enhanced mammography
  • digital breast thomosynthesis
  • thermoablation
  • crioablation

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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10 pages, 2358 KiB  
Article
Performance of Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (CEM) for Monitoring Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Response among Different Breast Cancer Subtypes
by Sofia Vidali, Giovanni Irmici, Catherine Depretto, Chiara Bellini, Francesca Pugliese, Ludovica Anna Incardona, Federica Di Naro, Diego De Benedetto, Giacomo Di Filippo, Fabiola Ferraro, Claudia De Berardinis, Vittorio Miele, Gianfranco Scaperrotta and Jacopo Nori Cucchiari
Cancers 2024, 16(15), 2694; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16152694 - 29 Jul 2024
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Abstract
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAT) plays a crucial role in breast cancer (BC) treatment, both in advanced BC and in early-stage BC, with different rates of pathological complete response (pCR) among the different BC molecular subtypes. Imaging monitoring is mandatory to evaluate the NAT efficacy. [...] Read more.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAT) plays a crucial role in breast cancer (BC) treatment, both in advanced BC and in early-stage BC, with different rates of pathological complete response (pCR) among the different BC molecular subtypes. Imaging monitoring is mandatory to evaluate the NAT efficacy. This study evaluates the diagnostic performance of Contrast-Enhanced Mammography (CEM) in BC patients undergoing NAT. This retrospective two-center study included 174 patients. The breast lesions were classified based on the molecular subtypes in hormone receptor (HR+)/HER2−, HER2+, and triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). The histopathological analysis performed following surgery was used as a reference standard for the pCR. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were measured overall and for the different subtypes. We enrolled 174 patients, 79/174 (46%) HR+/HER2−, 59/174 (33.9%) HER2+, and 35/174 (20.1%) TNBC; the pCR was found in 64/174 (36.8%), of which 57.1% were TNBCs. In the total population, the CEM sensitivity and specificity were 66.2% and 75.2%, with a PPV of 61.4% and an NPV of 78.8%. The highest specificity (80.9%) and NPV (91.7%) were found in HR+/HER2−, while the highest sensitivity (70%) and PPV appeared (73.7%) in TNBC. The results indicate that CEM is a valid tool to assess the pCR, with different performances among the subtypes of BC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Imaging in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment)
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Review

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15 pages, 7933 KiB  
Review
Imaging in Autologous Breast Reconstruction
by Janet C. Coleman-Belin, Joshua Barnett, Nima Khavanin, Jonas A. Nelson, Carrie S. Stern and Robert J. Allen, Jr.
Cancers 2024, 16(16), 2851; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16162851 - 15 Aug 2024
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Abstract
The evolution of imaging actively shapes clinical management in the field. Ultrasonography (US), computed tomography angiography (CTA), and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) stand out as the most extensively researched imaging modalities for ABR. Ongoing advancements include “real-time” angiography and three-dimensional (3D) surface imaging, [...] Read more.
The evolution of imaging actively shapes clinical management in the field. Ultrasonography (US), computed tomography angiography (CTA), and magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) stand out as the most extensively researched imaging modalities for ABR. Ongoing advancements include “real-time” angiography and three-dimensional (3D) surface imaging, and future prospects incorporate augmented or virtual reality (AR/VR) and artificial intelligence (AI). These technologies may further enhance perioperative efficiency, reduce donor-site morbidity, and improve surgical outcomes in ABR. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Imaging in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment)
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13 pages, 693 KiB  
Review
The Convergence of Radiology and Genomics: Advancing Breast Cancer Diagnosis with Radiogenomics
by Demetra Demetriou, Zarina Lockhat, Luke Brzozowski, Kamal S. Saini, Zodwa Dlamini and Rodney Hull
Cancers 2024, 16(5), 1076; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers16051076 - 6 Mar 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2056
Abstract
Despite significant progress in the prevention, screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of breast cancer (BC), it remains a highly prevalent and life-threatening disease affecting millions worldwide. Molecular subtyping of BC is crucial for predictive and prognostic purposes due to the diverse clinical behaviors [...] Read more.
Despite significant progress in the prevention, screening, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of breast cancer (BC), it remains a highly prevalent and life-threatening disease affecting millions worldwide. Molecular subtyping of BC is crucial for predictive and prognostic purposes due to the diverse clinical behaviors observed across various types. The molecular heterogeneity of BC poses uncertainties in its impact on diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Numerous studies have highlighted genetic and environmental differences between patients from different geographic regions, emphasizing the need for localized research. International studies have revealed that patients with African heritage are often diagnosed at a more advanced stage and exhibit poorer responses to treatment and lower survival rates. Despite these global findings, there is a dearth of in-depth studies focusing on communities in the African region. Early diagnosis and timely treatment are paramount to improving survival rates. In this context, radiogenomics emerges as a promising field within precision medicine. By associating genetic patterns with image attributes or features, radiogenomics has the potential to significantly improve early detection, prognosis, and diagnosis. It can provide valuable insights into potential treatment options and predict the likelihood of survival, progression, and relapse. Radiogenomics allows for visual features and genetic marker linkage that promises to eliminate the need for biopsy and sequencing. The application of radiogenomics not only contributes to advancing precision oncology and individualized patient treatment but also streamlines clinical workflows. This review aims to delve into the theoretical underpinnings of radiogenomics and explore its practical applications in the diagnosis, management, and treatment of BC and to put radiogenomics on a path towards fully integrated diagnostics. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Imaging in Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment)
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