Magnetic resonance imaging is more accurate than mammography for assessing response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in a breast cancer patient with significant calcifications

Magnetic resonance imaging is more accurate than mammography for assessing response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in a breast cancer patient with significant calcifications

For patients with operable breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy can increase the chance for breast-conserving resection without sacrifi cing survival length. Breast imaging is an important tool for following disease progression in patients undergoing preoperative therapy. We present a patient who had signifi cant calcifi cation associated with her primary tumor and axillary lymph node disease. After undergoing a course of chemotherapy that was truncated due to side effects, mammogram showed these deposits remained unchanged even though magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated that she had a complete response at both sites. Indeed on fi nal pathologic examination there was no invasive disease remaining in the breast and axillary lymph nodes. This case shows the potential superiority of MRI relative to mammograms in assessing the therapeutic response of breast cancer associated with calcifi ca- tions after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

对于可手术的乳腺癌患者，新辅助化疗可在不影响生存时长的情况下增加保乳切除的机会。乳腺影像学是监测接受术前治疗患者疾病进展的重要工具。我们介绍一位患者，其原发肿瘤和腋窝淋巴结病变伴有明显钙化。在因副作用而中断化疗疗程后，乳房X线照片显示这些钙化沉积物无变化，尽管磁共振成像（MRI）显示两个部位均完全缓解。实际上，最终病理检查显示乳房和腋窝淋巴结中无浸润性病变残留。该病例表明，在评估新辅助化疗后伴有钙化的乳腺癌治疗反应方面，MRI相对于乳房X线照片可能具有优势。