Program Information

MRI of Individual Lymph Nodes to Guide Regional Breast Radiotherapy

T van Heijst*, B van Asselen , J Lagendijk , D van den Bongard , M Philippens , University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Presentations

TH-A-BRF-5 Thursday 7:30AM - 9:30AM Room: Ballroom F

Purpose:
In regional radiotherapy (RT) for breast-cancer patients, direct visualization of individual lymph nodes (LNs) may reduce target volumes and result in lower toxicity (i.e. reduced radiation pneumonitis, arm edema, arm morbidity), relative to standard CT-based delineations. To this end, newly designed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences were optimized and assessed qualitatively and quantitatively.

Methods:
In ten healthy female volunteers, a scanning protocol was developed and optimized. Coronal images were acquired in supine RT position positioned on a wedge board on a 1.5 T Ingenia (Philips) wide-bore MRI. In four volunteers the optimized MRI protocol was applied, including a 3-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted (T1w) fast-field-echo (FFE). T2w sequences, including 3D FFE, 3D and 2D fast spin echo (FSE), and diffusion-weighted single-shot echo-planar imaging (DWI) were also performed. Several fat-suppression techniques were used. Qualitative evaluation parameters included LN contrast, motion susceptibility, visibility of anatomical structures, and fat suppression. The number of visible axillary and supraclavicular LNs was also determined.

Results:
T1 FFE, insensitive to motion, lacked contrast of LNs, which often blended in with soft tissue and blood. T2 FFE showed high contrast, but some LNs were obscured due to motion. Both 2D and 3D FSE were motion-insensitive having high contrast, although some blood remained visible. 2D FSE showed more anatomical details, while in 3D FSE, some blurring occurred. DWI showed high LN contrast, but suffered from geometric distortions and low resolution. Fat suppression by mDixon was the most reliable in regions with magnetic-field inhomogeneities. The FSE sequences showed the highest sensitivity for LN detection.

Conclusion:
MRI of regional LNs was achieved in volunteers. The FSE techniques were robust and the most sensitive. Our optimized MRI sequences can facilitate direct delineation of individual LNs. This can result in smaller target volumes and reduced toxicity in regional RT compared to standard CT planning.

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