The detection of lymph node metastasis affects the management of patients with primary breast cancer significantly in terms of staging, treatment, and prognosis. The main goal for the radiologist is to determine and detect the presence of metastatic disease in nonpalpable axillary lymph nodes with a positive predictive value that is high enough to initially select patients for upfront axillary lymph node dissection. Features that are suggestive of axillary adenopathy may be seen with different imaging modalities, but ultrasound is the method of choice for evaluating axillary lymph nodes and for performing image-guided lymph node interventions. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the available imaging modalities for lymph node assessment in patients diagnosed with primary breast cancer. The Oncologist 2020;25:e231-e242Implications for Practice: The detection of lymph node metastasis affects the management of patients with primary breast cancer. The main goal for the radiologist is to detect lymph node metastasis in patients to allow for the selection of patients who should undergo upfront axillary lymph node dissection. Features that are suggestive of axillary adenopathy may be seen with mammography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging, but ultrasonography is the imaging modality of choice for evaluating axillary lymph nodes. A normal axillary lymph node is characterized by a reniform shape, a maximal cortical thickness of 3 mm without focal bulging, smooth margins, and, depending on size, a discernable central fatty hilum.The Oncologist 2020;25:e231-e242 www.TheOncologist.com Breast Cancer Figure 7. Radiomics workflow. Reprinted by permission from Springer Nature, from Han et al., Radiomic nomogram for prediction of axillary lymph node metastasis in breast cancer. European Radiology 2019;7:3820-3829 [76].

Purpose: To compare annotation segmentation approaches and to assess the value of radiomics analysis applied to diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for evaluation of breast cancer receptor status and molecular subtyping. Procedures: In this IRB-approved HIPAA-compliant retrospective study, 91 patients with treatment-naïve breast malignancies proven by image-guided breast biopsy, (luminal A, n = 49; luminal B, n = 8; human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 [HER2]-enriched, n = 11; triple negative [TN], n = 23) underwent multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast at 3 T with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI, T2-weighted and DW imaging. Lesions were manually segmented on high b-value DW images and segmentation ROIS were propagated to apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. In addition in a subgroup (n = 79) where lesions were discernable on ADC maps alone, these were also directly segmented there. To derive radiomics signatures, the following features were extracted and analyzed: first-order histogram (HIS), cooccurrence matrix (COM), run-length matrix (RLM), absolute gradient, autoregressive model (ARM), discrete Haar wavelet transform (WAV), and lesion geometry. Fisher, probability of error and average correlation, and mutual information coefficients were used for feature selection. Linear discriminant analysis followed by k-nearest neighbor classification with leave-one-out cross-validation was applied for pairwise differentiation of receptor status and molecular Sunitha B. Thakur and Katja Pinker contributed equally to this work.

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) is a promising noninvasive diagnostic technique for investigation of breast cancer metabolism. Spectroscopic imaging data may be obtained following contrast‐enhanced MRI by applying the point‐resolved spectroscopy sequence (PRESS) or the stimulated echo acquisition mode (STEAM) sequence from the MR voxel encompassing the breast lesion. Total choline signal (tCho) measured in vivo using either a qualitative or quantitative approach has been used as a diagnostic test in the workup of malignant breast lesions. In addition to tCho metabolites, other relevant metabolites, including multiple lipids, can be detected and monitored. MRS has been heavily investigated as an adjunct to morphologic and dynamic MRI to improve diagnostic accuracy in breast cancer, obviating unnecessary benign biopsies. Besides its use in the staging of breast cancer, other promising applications have been recently investigated, including the assessment of treatment response and therapy monitoring. This review provides guidance on spectroscopic acquisition and quantification methods and highlights current and evolving clinical applications of proton MRS. Level of Evidence 5 Technical Efficacy: Stage 5 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019.

Background Breast magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H‐MRS) has been largely based on choline metabolites; however, other relevant metabolites can be detected and monitored. Purpose To investigate whether lipid metabolite concentrations detected with 1H‐MRS can be used for the noninvasive differentiation of benign and malignant breast tumors, differentiation among molecular breast cancer subtypes, and prediction of long‐term survival outcomes. Study Type Retrospective. Subjects In all, 168 women, aged ≥18 years. Field Strength/Sequence Dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI at 1.5 T: sagittal 3D spoiled gradient recalled sequence with fat saturation, flip angle = 10°, repetition time / echo time (TR/TE) = 7.4/4.2 msec, slice thickness = 3.0 mm, field of view (FOV) = 20 cm, and matrix size = 256 × 192. 1H‐MRS: PRESS with TR/TE = 2000/135 msec, water suppression, and 128 scan averages, in addition to 16 reference scans without water suppression. Assessment MRS quantitative analysis of lipid resonances using the LCModel was performed. Histopathology was the reference standard. Statistical Tests Categorical data were described using absolute numbers and percentages. For metric data, means (plus 95% confidence interval [CI]) and standard deviations as well as median, minimum, and maximum were calculated. Due to skewed data, the latter were more adequate; unpaired Mann–Whitney U‐tests were performed to compare groups without and with Bonferroni correction. ROC analyses were also performed. Results There were 111 malignant and 57 benign lesions. Mean voxel size was 4.4 ± 4.6 cm3. Six lipid metabolite peaks were quantified: L09, L13 + L16, L21 + L23, L28, L41 + L43, and L52 + L53. Malignant lesions showed lower L09, L21 + L23, and L52 + L53 than benign lesions (P = 0.022, 0.027, and 0.0006). Similar results were observed for Luminal A or Luminal A/B vs. other molecular subtypes. At follow‐up, patients were split into two groups based on median values for the six peaks; recurrence‐free survival was significantly different between groups for L09, L21 + L23, and L28 (P = 0.0173, 0.0024, and 0.0045). Data Conclusion Quantitative in vivo 1H‐MRS assessment of lipid metabolism may provide an additional noninvasive imaging biomarker to guide therapeutic decisions in breast cancer. Level of Evidence: 3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:239–249.