Aim: To investigate the feasibility of using diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) to accurately measure breast cancer extension.
Materials and methods: The extensions of 59 breast lesions were investigated on DW images and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps and compared to the pathological exams.
Results: Three groups were observed: accurate, overdiagnosis, and false negative. There were no significant differences seen in accurate or false-negative group when b was 500 and 1000 s/mm(2) when two lesions in the overdiagnosis group at both b values.
Conclusion: DWI and the ADC value have potential for evaluating cancer extension.
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