MR-BTC Version 1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Magnetic Resonance Breast Tissue Characterisation to Improve Risk Stratification for Breast Cancer
IRAS ID
154679
Contact name
Robin M Wilson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 0 days
Research summary
Research summary - Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can be used to measure breast tissue properties which are thought to influence breast cancer risk.
This is a combination retrospective and prospective observational study. Retrospectively, we will analyse MRI examinations from previous patients at genetic or environmental risk of breast cancer and measure their breast tissue properties. Prospectively, patients undergoing breast investigations, but with normal breast tissue on X-ray mammography, will have a MRI examination to allow us to measure breast tissue in women at population risk of breast cancer.
Breast tissue properties measured by MRI include breast density (percentage water in the breast), the enhancement of glandular tissue following administration of contrast agent, known as Background Parenchymal Enhancement (BPE), and the equilibrium magnetisation (M0). These parameters will be compared with a breast density measurement from X-Ray Mammography known as Percent Mammographic Density (PMD), an established marker of breast cancer risk.
We aim to develop functional magnetic resonance techniques to better measure breast tissue properties and to discover whether these tissue properties differ between women at different genetic and environmental risk of breast cancer. This might allow us to better tailor breast screening programmes in the future.
Lay Summary - Methods to measure breast density (BD) and background parenchyma enhancement (BPE) from clinical MR images were developed and are now available at The Royal Marsden Hospital (RMH). Intra- and inter- user reproducibility of the method was confirmed.Comparing patients at high risk of developing breast cancer and patients at population risk, there are no significant differences in breast density, median BPE, inter-quartile range of BPE values, and skew of BPE distribution. The statistical significance of differences in Kurtosis of BPE distribution between the two groups is still being investigated with multi-variate analysis.
Aspects of the work related to PMD measured in X-Ray Mammography were not yet explored.
This study was not able to detect differences in the MRI-based characteristics of breast tissue of women at high risk of developing breast cancer, when compared to women at population risk.
We are waiting for the analysis to be reviewed by the statisticians prior to submitting our article because there may be a small difference in the distribution of BPE values in the two groups of patients. The question of whether this small difference is statistically significant is not trivial in the context of multiple comparisons. Hence a delay in submitting the article for publication.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/LO/1908
Date of REC Opinion
6 Jan 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion