Quantitative MRI parameters of amide proton transfer and diffusion kurtosis imaging in the evaluation of breast cancer

Motivation: Limited clinical studies have explored the potential of Amide Proton Transfer Weighted Imaging (APTWI) in discriminating between benign and malignant breast lesions and molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Goal(s): This study aims to assess the clinical utility of APTWI and DKI in the evaluation of benign and malignant breast diseases and the determination of molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Approach: We quantitatively analyzed lesions in breast MRI scans of patients prior to surgery and evaluated the diagnostic value of each quantitative parameter. Results: APTWI did not exhibit superior diagnostic efficacy compared to DKI and ADC in characterizing the molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Impact: Our study underscores that APT imaging, as a novel quantitative magnetic resonance technique, does not confer a diagnostic advantage over DKI and ADC in the context of breast disease assessment.