Rationale and Objectives
This study aimed to determine whether mammographic features assessed by radiologists and using computer algorithms are prognostic of occult invasive disease for patients showing ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) only in core biopsy.
Materials and Methods
In this retrospective study, we analyzed data from 99 subjects with DCIS (74 pure DCIS; 25 DCIS with occult invasion). We developed a computer-vision algorithm capable of extracting 113 features from magnification views in mammograms and combining these features to predict whether a DCIS case will be upstaged to invasive cancer at the time of definitive surgery. In comparison, we also built predictive models based on physician-interpreted features, which included histologic features extracted from biopsy reports and Breast Imaging Reporting and Data Systems (BI-RADS) related mammographic features assessed by two radiologists. The generalization performance was assessed using leave one out cross validation with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.
Results
Using the computer-extracted mammographic features, the multivariate classifier was able to distinguish DCIS with occult invasion from pure DCIS, with an area under the curve for ROC (AUC-ROC) equal to 0.70 (95% CI: 0.59–0.81). The physician-interpreted features including histologic features and BI-RADS related mammographic features assessed by two radiologists showed mixed results, and only one radiologist’s subjective assessment was predictive, with AUC-ROC equal to 0.68 (95% CI: 0.57–0.81).
Conclusion
Predicting upstaging for DCIS based upon mammograms is challenging, and there exists significant inter-observer variability among radiologists. However, the proposed computer-extracted mammographic features are promising for the prediction of occult invasion in DCIS.