ABSTRACT
The present study aimed to investigate the possibility of using
dual-energy computed tomography (CT) before therapy to discriminate between
normal breast tissue and tumor tissue in patients with breast cancer, without
the need to use a contrast medium. The following patient data were extracted by
interview and from the hospital’s radiology information system: height, weight,
age, menstrual cycle, CT images of normal tissue and tumors with or without
contrast medium, and the histopathological diagnosis of the aspiration biopsy.
The median age of the 43 participants was 56 years (range, 30 - 80 years). The
CT values were evaluated using a clinical analytical program based on the
three-material decomposition technique. Breast cancer was classified into
ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive
ductal carcinoma, invasive lobular carcinoma, fibromatosis-like metaplastic
carcinoma, and apocrine carcinoma. In all conditions, regardless of contrast
medium, the CT values of tumor tissues were higher than those of normal breast
tissue, indicating the effectiveness of dual-energy CT (DE-CT) in the diagnosis
of breast cancer. By contrast, DE-CT showed limited potential for
distinguishing ductal carcinoma in
situ from invasive ductal carcinoma. There have only been a few
reports regarding CT examination of breast cancer, and it is expected this
study encourage the development of DE-CT imaging to improve tumor detection in
patients with breast cancer.