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RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVE: The authors determined the relation between tumor angiogenesis in small invasive breast carcinoma and contrast enhancement on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after gadolinium injection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Magnetic resonance imaging was performed before surgery in a prospective study of 20 patients who had a small palpable lump. Spin-echo sequences after injection of gadolinium were studied by factor analysis of medical image sequences and were compared with a histologic quantification of tumor angiogenesis after immunocytochemical staining. RESULTS: In nine cases, there was good correlation between the MRI and the histologic plane. In four patients, an early factor was found on MRI. This factor was related to a high concentration of arterioles located in the stroma or, in one patient, to the intratumor repair process. CONCLUSION: Early enhancement correlated well with the number of vessels determined histologically.
Frouge et al. (Thu,) studied this question.