Intra-tumoural lipid composition and lymphovascular invasion in breast cancer via non-invasive magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Sai Man Cheung* (Corresponding Author), Ehab Husain, Vasiliki Mallikourti, Yazan Masannat, Steven Heys, Jiabao He

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Citations (Scopus)
8 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Objectives Despite improved survival due to new treatments, the 10-year survival rate in patients with breast cancer is approximately 75%. Lymphovascular invasion (LVI), a prognostic marker independent from histological grade and stage, can only be fully determined at final histological examination. Lipid composition is deregulated in tumour via de novo lipogenesis, with alteration in lipogenic genes in LVI. We hypothesise alteration in lipid composition derived from novel non-invasive spectroscopy method is associated with LVI positivity.
Methods Thirty female patients (age 39–78) with invasive ductal carcinoma were enrolled, with 13 LVI negative and 17 LVI positive. Saturated, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated fatty acids and triglycerides (SFA, MUFA, PUFA and TRG) were quantified from ex vivo breast tumours freshly excised from patients on a 3 T clinical MRI scanner, and proliferative activity marker Ki-67 and serotonin derived histologically.
Results There were significantly lower MUFA (p = 0.0189) in LVI positive (median: 0.37, interquartile range (IQR): 0.25–0.64) than negative (0.63, 0.49–0.96). There were significantly lower TRG (p = 0.0226) in LVI positive (1.32, 0.95–2.43) than negative (2.5, 1.92–4.15). There was no significant difference in SFA (p = 0.6009) or PUFA (p = 0.1641). There was no significant correlation between lipid composition against Ki-67 or serotonin, apart from a borderline negative correlation between PUFA and serotonin (r = -0.3616, p = 0.0496).
Conclusion Lipid composition might provide a biomarker to study lymphovascular invasion in breast cancer.
Key Points
• Monounsaturated fatty acids in lymphovascular invasion (LVI) positive invasive breast carcinoma were significantly lower than that in LVI negative.
• Triglycerides in LVI positive invasive breast carcinoma were significantly lower than that in LVI negative.
• Lipid composition from MR spectroscop
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3703–3711
Number of pages9
JournalEuropean Radiology
Volume31
Early online date3 Dec 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Dr. Nicholas Senn for conducting data auditing, Dr. Matthew Clemence (Philips Healthcare Clinical Science, UK) for clinical scientist support, Dr. Tim Smith for biologist support, Mr. Gordon Buchan for technician support, Ms Bolanle Brikinns for patient recruitment support, Ms Dawn Younie for logistic support and Prof. Andrew M. Blamire for advice on MRS. The authors would also like to thank Mr Roger Bourne and Ms Mairi Fuller for providing access to the patients.
Funding: This study has received funding from Friends of Aberdeen and North Centre for Haematology, Oncology and Radiotherapy (ANCHOR) (RS2015 004). Sai Man Cheung’s PhD study was jointly supported by Elphinstone scholarship, Roland Sutton Academic Trust and John Mallard scholarship

Keywords

  • monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA)
  • triglycerides
  • saturated fatty acids (SFA)
  • serotonin
  • magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)
  • Monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA)
  • Saturated fatty acids (SFA)
  • Serotonin
  • Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)
  • Triglycerides

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