Characteristics of breast cancer blood supply before and after chemotherapy with low-dose CT perfusion

Objective To analyze the characteristics of breast cancer blood supply before and after chemotherapy with low-dose CT perfnsion. Methods Fifteen patients with breast cancer underwent CT breast perfusion examination, which was performed before and after chemotherapy within 1 week on Siemens Sensation 4 scanner with 120 kV and 50 mAs, 50 ml of nonionic contrast agent (320 mg I/ml) was injected at a flow rate of 4 ml/s with a power injector, Scan started after 8 seconds delay and data acquisition duration was 50 seconds. The blood flow ( BF), blood volume (BV) and mean transfer time (MTT) of lesion and contralateral normal breast gland were calculated using Basama perfusion 3 software package before and after chemotherapy. At the same time, the tumor size before and after chemotherapy were measured and correlated with the BF values. The t test and non-parametric test were used for the statistics. Results ( 1 ) The mean BF、BV and MTT of breast cancer were (33.20±4. 17) ml · min-1 · 100 ml-1 , (8. 31±2.43) ml · 100 ml-1 and ( 15. 31 ± 4. 31 ) s respectively before chemotherapy, and ( 13.65 ± 6. 04) ml · min-1 100 ml-1, (5.04±2. 33) ml · 100 ml-1 and (25. 97±9. 07) s respectively after chemotherapy and there were statistically significant (P =0. 000). The mean BF、BV and MTT of normal breast were (4. 31 ± 2.23) ml · min-1 · 100 ml-1, (1.38±0.75) ml · 100 ml-1 and (19.25±3.94) s respectively before chemotherapy, and (4.03±2.35) ml · min-1 · 100 ml-1、(1.44±0.84) ml · 100 ml-1、(22.56 ± 7.71 ) s respectively after chemotherapy and there were not statistically significant (P >0. 05). (2)The BF of breast cancer was higher than the normal breast before chemotherapy ( P < 0. 01 ). (3) There was a positive correlation between the BF values and tumor size before and after chemotherapy ( r = 0. 902, P = 0. 000). Conclusion The BF value has a positive correlation with tumor size after chemotherapy, CT perfusion is more sensitive for the evaluation of chemotherapy response than morphologic assessment. Key words: Breast neoplasms;  Tomography, X-ray computed;  Antinoeplastic combined chemotherapy protocols