Utilisation of MR spectroscopy and diffusion weighted imaging in predicting and monitoring of breast cancer response to chemotherapy

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) is the standard treatment option for breast cancer as more data shows that pathologic complete response (pCR) after NACT correlates with improved prognosis. MRI is accepted as the best imaging modality for evaluating the response to NACT in many studies as compared with clinical examination and other imaging modalities. In vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) studies have both emerged as potential tools to provide early response indicators based on the changes in the metabolites and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) respectively. In this review article, we aim to discuss the strength and limitations of MRS and DWI in monitoring of early response breast cancer to NACT.