Use of Low-dose Chest CT Scan in the Evaluation of Breast Composition According to the Recommendations of BI-RADS Atlas-Fifth Edition

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer and lung cancer are the leading causes of cancer-related mortality in women. Computed tomography (CT) plays an important role in lung cancer examination but an unidentified role in breast examination. Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of breast composition categorization according to the fifth edition of Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) atlas in low-dose CT screening. Patients and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study completed in The 5th Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, China. We collected the imaging data of 57 women, who underwent low-dose chest CT scan and mammography within one week from 1st October 2013 to 31st March 2015. Two radiologists independently interpreted the mammograms and chest CT scans and classified the breast composition into categories a, b, c, and d. We also summarized the distribution of breast composition categories by collecting, observing, and classifying the chest CT scans from 1916 female examinees from 1st October 2013 to 31st March 2016. Results: Excellent agreement was observed between the two radiologists, using both low-dose CT scan (κ = 0.91) and mammography (κ = 0.86). Agreement between low-dose chest CT scan and mammography was moderate for radiologist A (κ = 0.50) and radiologist B (κ = 0.43). More breasts were classified in categories a and b on the chest CT scan compared to mammography according to both radiologist A (P < 0.01) and radiologist B (P < 0.01). The proportion of non-dense breast tissues (categories a & b) increased with advancing age, while the proportion of dense breast tissues (categories c & d) decreased (P < 0.05). With advancing age, the probability of non-dense breasts increased, while the probability of dense breasts decreased. Conclusions: Based on the findings, it is feasible to categorize breast composition using low-dose chest CT. In the older age group, the probability of non-dense breasts increased.