Microscopic Diffusion Properties of Fixed Breast Tissue: Preliminary Findings

Purpose: To investigate the microscopic diffusion properties of formalin-fixed breast tissue. Methods: Diffusion microimaging was performed at 16.4T with 40-mm isotropic voxels on two normal and two cancer tissue samples from four patients. Results were correlated with histology of the samples. Results: Diffusion-weighted images and mean diffusivity maps demonstrated distinct diffusivity differences between breast tissue components. Mean diffusivity (MD) in normal tissue was 0.59 +/- 0.24 mu m(2)/ms for gland lobule (voxels containing epithelium and intralobular stroma) and 1.23 +/- 0.34 mu m(2)/ms for interlobular fibrous stroma. In the cancer samples, MD = 0.45 +/- 0.23 mu m(2)/ms for invasive ductal carcinoma (voxels contain epithelium and intralobular stroma) and 0.61 +/- 0.35 mu m(2)/ms for ductal carcinoma in situ. There were significant MD differences between all tissue components (P < 0.005), except between gland lobule and ductal carcinoma in situ (P = 0.71). The low diffusivity of epithelium-rich cancer tissue and of normal epithelium relative to its supporting fibrous stroma was similar to that reported for prostate tissue and the esophageal wall. Conclusion: Diffusion microimaging demonstrates distinct diffusivity differences between breast tissue glandular structures. Low diffusivity may be a distinctive feature of mammalian epithelia. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.