Accuracy and diagnostic value of diffusion-weighted whole body imaging with background body signal suppression (DWIBS) in metastatic breast cancer

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the most common malignant tumor among women. The mortality of the patients could be mainly attributed to metastasis and spread of breast cancer to distant sites. The objective of the current study is to evaluate and express the role of diffusion-weighted whole body imaging with background body signal suppression (DWIBS) in detection of osseous and soft tissue metastatic lesions in patients with cancer breast. Results: The current prospective study included 50 female patients with pathologically proven breast cancer. The overall sensitivity of DWIBS and STIR were 97.5% and 92.5%, respectively. DWIBS was the most sensitive sequence with highest negative predictive values. DWIBS and STIR were the most sensitive with the highest negative predictive value. Both DWIBS and STIR detected more vertebral metastatic deposits (100% and 97.8%, respectively) and more soft tissue lesions (94.4% for both) than WB DWI and T1WI. Conclusion: DWIBS MRI sequence is an effective method for detection of solid organ, bone and lymph node metastasis but not specific for characterization of lesions.