Correlation between topological descriptors of the breast ductal network from clinical galactograms and texture features of corresponding mammograms

Abstract

Mammographic texture has been reported as a biomarker of cancer risk. Recent publications also suggest correlation between the topology of the breast ductal network and risk of cancer. The ductal network can be visualized by galactography, the preferred imaging technique for nipple discharge. We present current results about the correlation between topological and textural properties of clinical breast images. This correlation was assessed for 41 galactograms and 56 mammograms from 13 patients. Topology was characterized using feature extraction techniques arising from text-mining, validated previously in the classification of normal, benign, and malignant galactograms. In addition, we calculated 26 texture descriptors using an automated breast image analysis pipeline. Regression analysis was performed between texture and topological descriptors averaged over all images of the same patient. These data demonstrate a correlation between topology and a subset of texture features with borderline statistical significance due to the limited sample size. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.