• The Application of PET/MRI Imaging in Breast Cancer: A Systematic Review
  • Fatemeh Mazaheri,1,* Mahmoud Mohammadi-Sadr,2 Amirreza SadeghiNasab,3 Marziyeh Tahmasb,4
    1. Medical Physics & Biomedical Engineering Department, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) Tehran, Iran
    2. Department of Medical Physics, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
    3. 1Department of Radiologic Technology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. 2Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
    4. Department of Radiologic Technology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.


  • Introduction: Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women globally. Early and accurate diagnosis of breast cancer is crucial, as it significantly improves the treatment outcome and increases survival rates. Imaging plays a crucial role in the screening, diagnosis, staging, and management of breast cancer. Positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been merged into an integrated PET/MRI system, a hybrid imaging technology that simultaneously acquires the metabolic information from PET and the high-contrast morphological details from MRI in a single examination, potentially enhancing the precision of breast cancer management. The current systematic review focused on the potential advantages of PET/MRI for clinical applications in breast cancer diagnosis.
  • Methods: A comprehensive review was conducted using the PubMed, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases, focusing on studies published up to July 2024. Different combinations of keywords such as "PET", "MRI", "PET/MRI", "breast cancer" and "diagnostic accuracy", "hybrid imaging" were employed, resulting in the selection of 30 pertinent records based on relevance and recent advancements.
  • Results: The systematic review demonstrates that PET/MRI imaging in breast cancer offers superior diagnostic accuracy, with sensitivity rates reported between 90% and 98% and specificity ranging from 85% to 95%. The combination of PET and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) improves whole-body cancer staging, achieving approximately 15% higher diagnostic accuracy than conventional imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) and bone scans. The review also highlights the efficacy of PET/MRI in accurately detecting distant metastases, especially in bones, and assessing axillary lymph node involvement. Additionally, the PET/MRI system reduces false positives by around 10-15% compared to traditional methods, leading to a significant reduction in unnecessary mastectomies and extensive axillary dissections.
  • Conclusion: PET/MRI represents a transformative tool in the clinical management of breast cancer, offering significant advantages in diagnostic accuracy, radiotherapy treatment planning, and treatment response evaluation by combining metabolic and anatomical imaging for a comprehensive assessment. The superior soft tissue contrast and functional imaging features of this imaging modality led to more tailored surgical and radiotherapy planning, improving patient outcomes. The high sensitivity and specificity of PET/MRI systems in assessing treatment response of breast cancer patients, enable early detection of residual disease or recurrence, facilitating timely adjustments to therapeutic strategies.
  • Keywords: Breast Cancer, Diagnostic Accuracy, Hybrid Imaging, MRI, PET and PET/MRI.