AUTHOR=Ganeshan Balaji , Strukowska Olga , Skogen Karoline , Young Rupert , Chatwin Chris , Miles Ken 

TITLE=Heterogeneity of Focal Breast Lesions and Surrounding Tissue Assessed by Mammographic Texture Analysis: Preliminary Evidence of an Association with Tumor Invasion and Estrogen Receptor Status

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=1

YEAR=2011

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2011.00033

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2011.00033

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Aim</bold>: This pilot study investigates whether heterogeneity in focal breast lesions and surrounding tissue assessed on mammography is potentially related to cancer invasion and hormone receptor status. <bold>Materials and Methods</bold>: Texture analysis (TA) assessed the heterogeneity of focal lesions and their surrounding tissues in digitized mammograms from 11 patients randomly selected from an imaging archive [ductal carcinoma <italic>in situ</italic> (DCIS) only, <italic>n</italic> = 4; invasive carcinoma (IC) with DCIS, <italic>n</italic> = 3; IC only, <italic>n</italic> = 4]. TA utilized band-pass image filtration to highlight image features at different spatial frequencies (filter values: 1.0–2.5) from fine to coarse texture. The distribution of features in the derived images was quantified using uniformity. <bold>Results</bold>: Significant differences in uniformity were observed between patient groups for all filter values. With medium scale filtration (filter value = 1.5) pure DCIS was more uniform (median = 0.281) than either DCIS with IC (median = 0.246, <italic>p</italic> = 0.0102) or IC (median = 0.249, <italic>p</italic> = 0.0021). Lesions with high levels of estrogen receptor expression were more uniform, most notably with coarse filtration (filter values 2.0 and 2.5, <italic>r</italic><sub>s</sub> = 0.812, <italic>p</italic> = 0.002). Comparison of uniformity values in focal lesions and surrounding tissue showed significant differences between DCIS with or without IC versus IC (<italic>p</italic> = 0.0009). <bold>Conclusion</bold>: This pilot study shows the potential for computer-based assessments of heterogeneity within focal mammographic lesions and surrounding tissue to identify adverse pathological features in mammographic lesions. The technique warrants further investigation as a possible adjunct to existing computer aided diagnosis systems.</p>