Objective: To evaluate the feasibility of in vivo measurement of the fatty acid (FA) composition of breast adipose tissue by MRS on a clinical platform.
Material and methods: MRS experiments were performed at 3 T, using a STEAM sequence, on 25 patients diagnosed with breast cancer. MR spectra, acquired on healthy breast tissue, were analysed with the LCModel.
Results: The measured values of the saturated fatty acid (SFA), mono-unsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) and poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) fractions were 23.8 ± 7.1%, 55.4 ± 6.8% and 20.8 ± 4.4%, respectively. The values of SFA, MUFA and PUFA observed in the current study are in the same range as those found in two previous studies performed at 7 T.
Conclusion: The results of the current study show that it is possible to quantify the fatty acid composition of breast tissue in vivo in a clinical setting (3 T).
Keywords: Breast cancer; Fatty acid; MRS; Quantification.