Diffusion-Weighted MRI in Breast Cancer: A Practical Review of Techniques and Applications

For breast MRI, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) boosts diagnostic AUC to 0.960 when combined with other sequences, and non-contrast DWI screening yields a 99.5% negative predictive value. Malignant lesions show restricted diffusion (low ADC).

• ADC helps differentiate malignant (low ADC) from benign lesions due to high cellularity.
• Advanced diffusion models (IVIM, DKI, RSI) quantify micro-perfusion and heterogeneity, with RSI achieving an AUC up to 0.982.
• DWI predicts neoadjuvant chemotherapy response (AUC up to 0.840) and correlates with biomarkers such as ER, PR, and Ki-67.

Automated summary

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