Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Breast: an Accurate Method for Measuring Early Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy?

Accurate prediction of early treatment response in patients receiving neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer is essential to provide patients with the best care. Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) provides a novel approach to distinguishing responders from non-responders. This article aims to review the literature regarding the accuracy of DWI in predicting patients who will respond to neoadjuvant chemotherapy at an early stage within their treatment pathway. The initial search yielded 11,171 articles. After careful review, 19 of these articles were found to adhere to the inclusion criteria. Despite the varied research methods and data analysis across the studies, 16 out of 19 of these studies (84%) demonstrated DWI to be an accurate predictor of neoadjuvant chemotherapy response. These results are promising; however, further multi-centre studies with larger sample sizes, homogenous imaging and treatment parameters and formal assessment of pathological response are required to accurately evaluate the use of DWI as an early predictor of neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in patients with breast cancer.