Using a multiparametric (MP) approach, PET/MR imaging with F-18 FDG, dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and 3-D proton MR spectroscopic imaging (3D H-MRSI) is superior for telling apart different kinds of breast tumors, according to a study published online June 24 in Clinical Cancer Research.

Thomas H. Helbich, MD, from the department of biomedical imaging and image-guided therapy in the division of molecular and gender imaging at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, and colleagues assessed the four-part PET/MR scan in the study of 75 female patients with a spectrum of 53 malignant and 23 benign breast lesions. They found that having multiple parameters improved detection of both malignant and benign tumors.

This MP-PET/MR approach was 96 percent accurate for differentiating benign and malignant growths and using two or three parameters was determined to be the best practice. Compared to DCE-MRI alone, using this MP technique could cut down on as much as 50 percent of unnecessary breast biopsies.

“This feasibility study shows that MP F-18 FDG PET-MRI enables an improved differentiation of benign and malignant breast tumors when several MRI and PET parameters are combined. MP F-18 FDG PET-MRI may lead to a reduction in unnecessary breast biopsies,” concluded the authors.