Abstract

Motivation: Validate Shutter-Speed model (SSM) DCE-MRI as a robust predictor of breast cancer (BC) response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in a multi-center and multi-vendor platform setting. Goal(s): Compare tumor size, semi-quantitative, and quantitative DCE-MRI for early prediction of NAC response. Approach: BC patients treated with NAC underwent longitudinal high spatiotemporal resolution DCE-MRI at three sites using a 3T Siemens, GE, or Philips system. Semi-quantitative signal-enhancement-ratio (SER) and quantitative Tofts model (TM) and SSM pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters were derived from DCE time-course data. Results: PK parameters outperformed size and SER while SSM was superior to TM in early prediction of pathologic response. Impact: It is feasible to implement quantitative high spatiotemporal resolution SSM DCE-MRI in trials with multi-center and multi-vendor platform settings for robust assessment of BC response to NAC.