Probing lipids relaxation times in breast cancer using magnetic resonance spectroscopic fingerprinting

Objectives To investigate the clinical relevance of the relaxation times of lipids within breast cancer and normal fibroglandular tissue in vivo, using magnetic resonance spectroscopic fingerprinting (MRSF). Methods Twelve patients with biopsy-confirmed breast cancer and 14 healthy controls were prospectively scanned at 3 T using a protocol consisting of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), MRSF, and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI. Single-voxel MRSF data was recorded from the tumor (patients) — identified using DTI — or normal fibroglandular tissue (controls), in under 20 s. MRSF data was analyzed using in-house software. Linear mixed model analysis was used to compare the relaxation times of lipids in breast cancer VOIs vs. normal fibroglandular tissue. Results Seven distinguished lipid metabolite peaks were identified and their relaxation times were recorded. Of them, several exhibited statistically significant changes between controls and patients, with strong significance ( p