TY - JOUR
T1 - Monitoring In-Vivo the Mammary Gland Microstructure during Morphogenesis from Lactation to Post-Weaning Using Diffusion Tensor MRI
AU - Nissan, Noam
AU - Furman-Haran, Edna
AU - Shapiro-Feinberg, Myra
AU - Grobgeld, Dov
AU - Degani, Hadassa
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.
PY - 2017/9/1
Y1 - 2017/9/1
N2 - Lactation and the return to the pre-conception state during post-weaning are regulated by hormonal induced processes that modify the microstructure of the mammary gland, leading to changes in the features of the ductal / glandular tissue, the stroma and the fat tissue. These changes create a challenge in the radiological workup of breast disorder during lactation and early post-weaning. Here we present non-invasive MRI protocols designed to record in vivo high spatial resolution, T2-weighted images and diffusion tensor images of the entire mammary gland. Advanced imaging processing tools enabled tracking the changes in the anatomical and microstructural features of the mammary gland from the time of lactation to post-weaning. Specifically, by using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) it was possible to quantitatively distinguish between the ductal / glandular tissue distention during lactation and the post-weaning involution. The application of the T2-weighted imaging and DTI is completely safe, non-invasive and uses intrinsic contrast based on differences in transverse relaxation rates and water diffusion rates in various directions, respectively. This study provides a basis for further in-vivo monitoring of changes during the mammary developmental stages, as well as identifying changes due to malignant transformation in patients with pregnancy associated breast cancer (PABC).
AB - Lactation and the return to the pre-conception state during post-weaning are regulated by hormonal induced processes that modify the microstructure of the mammary gland, leading to changes in the features of the ductal / glandular tissue, the stroma and the fat tissue. These changes create a challenge in the radiological workup of breast disorder during lactation and early post-weaning. Here we present non-invasive MRI protocols designed to record in vivo high spatial resolution, T2-weighted images and diffusion tensor images of the entire mammary gland. Advanced imaging processing tools enabled tracking the changes in the anatomical and microstructural features of the mammary gland from the time of lactation to post-weaning. Specifically, by using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) it was possible to quantitatively distinguish between the ductal / glandular tissue distention during lactation and the post-weaning involution. The application of the T2-weighted imaging and DTI is completely safe, non-invasive and uses intrinsic contrast based on differences in transverse relaxation rates and water diffusion rates in various directions, respectively. This study provides a basis for further in-vivo monitoring of changes during the mammary developmental stages, as well as identifying changes due to malignant transformation in patients with pregnancy associated breast cancer (PABC).
KW - Diffusion Tensor Imaging
KW - Lactating breast structure
KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging
KW - Mammary gland microstructure tracking
KW - Post-weaning breast structure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85023754313&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10911-017-9383-x
DO - 10.1007/s10911-017-9383-x
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C2 - 28707256
AN - SCOPUS:85023754313
SN - 1083-3021
VL - 22
SP - 193
EP - 202
JO - Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia
JF - Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia
IS - 3
ER -