ADC at 3.0 T as a noninvasive biomarker for preoperative prediction of Ki67 expression in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast.

PURPOSE: To investigate the role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) as an imaging biomarker for invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC) in the breast.

METHODS: Seventy-one patients undergoing 3.0 Tesla DWI were retrospectively enrolled. Correlations between the ADC values and prognostic factors were evaluated.

RESULTS: Multivariate regression analyses showed that Ki67 expression and molecular subtype were independently associated with the ADC. Discriminant analysis excluded the ADC as a good biomarker for subtype, but the mean ADC significantly distinguished Ki67-positive (low ADC) from Ki67-negative (high ADC) lesions, as observed in the in ROC curves, with a diagnostic sensitivity of 1.00 and a cut-off value of 0.97 × 10-3  mm2 /s.

CONCLUSION: The ADC may be helpful for predicting Ki67 expression in IDC preoperatively.