Overview of radiomics in breast cancer diagnosis and prognostication.

Diagnosis of early invasive breast cancer relies on radiology and clinical evaluation, supplemented by biopsy confirmation. At least three issues burden this approach: a) suboptimal sensitivity and suboptimal positive predictive power of radiology screening and diagnostic approaches, respectively; b) invasiveness of biopsy with discomfort for women undergoing diagnostic tests; c) long turnaround time for recall tests. In the screening setting, radiology sensitivity is suboptimal, and when a suspicious lesion is detected and a biopsy is recommended, the positive predictive value of radiology is modest. Recent technological advances in medical imaging, especially in the field of artificial intelligence applied to image analysis, hold promise in addressing clinical challenges in cancer detection, assessment of treatment response, and monitoring disease progression. Radiomics include feature extraction from clinical images; these features are related to tumor size, shape, intensity, and texture, collectively providing comprehensive tumor characterization, the so-called radiomics signature of the tumor. Radiomics is based on the hypothesis that extracted quantitative data derives from mechanisms occurring at genetic and molecular levels. In this article we focus on the role and potential of radiomics in breast cancer diagnosis and prognostication

Breast cancer Ki-67 expression prediction by digital breast tomosynthesis radiomics features

The aim of this paper was to investigate whether quantitative radiomic features extracted from digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) are associated with Ki-67 expression of breast cancer. This was a prospective ethically approved study of 70 women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2018, including 40 low Ki-67 expression (Ki-67 proliferation index <14%) cases and 30 high Ki-67 expression (Ki-67 proliferation index ≥ 14%) cases. A set of 106 quantitative radiomic features, including morphological, grey/scale statistics, and texture features, were extracted from DBT images. After applying least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method to select the most predictive features set for the classifiers, low versus high Ki-67 expression was evaluated by the area under the curve (AUC) at receiver operating characteristic analysis. Correlation coefficient was calculated for the most significant features

Quantitative evaluation of background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) on breast MRI. A feasibility study with a semi-automatic and automatic software compared to observer-based scores

To evaluate quantitative measurements of background parenchymal enhancement (BPE) on breast MRI and compare them with observer-based scores

Towards consensus on managing high mammographic density in population breast screening?

In Medicine and in Radiology, impact on societal and health outcomes of a diagnostic pathway or methodology should be comprehensively investigated before implementing a screening approach for disease ..

Injuries in non-professional padel tennis players. Results of a survey of the Italian Federation of Tennis in Liguria, Italy

Background: To understand padel tennis injuries occurrence in Liguria, Italy. Paddle is a well know racquet sport, similar to tennis. padel tennis has been widely adopted in Liguria only in the last 4 years, however sport practice was largely reduced by the worldwide spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods: A questionnaire (N.=19 questions) was sent to all members of the Italian Federation of Tennis involved in official tournaments of padel tennis. We collected data on the number of injuries, the most frequent injuries, their distribution, type, location, the moment at which these occurred, and the diagnostic modality used to make the diagnosis. Results: A total of 800 Italian padel tennis players took part in the survey (mean age: 49±22 years). In total, 85 injuries were registered in 2020/2021 up to 1/6/2021. The majority of lesion was located on the lower limb N.=49/85 with the knee N.=16/49 highly affected. Then, the majority of lesion of the upper limb were localized al the elbow N.=22/36, the majority epicondylitis. Conclusions: Padel tennis injuries resulted more common in the lower limb and the elbow was the most affected area at the upper limb

Novel imaging techniques and biological methods for breast cancer evaluation: overview and update

NTRODUZIONE: Il tumore al seno (breast cancer, BC) \ue8 una malattia eterogenea e complessa ed \ue8 il tumore pi\uf9 comune nelle donne nella maggior parte dei paesi. Poich\ue9 il rilevamento precoce del BC \ue8 vitale per garantire il massimo beneficio dal trattamento, evidenziamo recenti studi di ricerca che si occupano del rilevamento e della caratterizzazione del BC, concentrandosi sia su nuove tecniche di imaging medico che su test biologici. Esaminiamo brevemente il ruolo delle nuove modalit\ue0 di imaging emergenti e descriviamo il ruolo complementare dei metodi biologici per la rilevazione e la caratterizzazione del BC come biopsia liquida, microRNA, ctDNA, CTC e test genetici. ACQUISIZIONE DELL\u2019EVIDENZA: Abbiamo condotto una revisione della letteratura su PubMed/MEDLINE, concentrandoci su studi recenti (pubblicati dopo il 2014 fino a gennaio 2020) per descrivere nuovi metodi di rilevamento per il BC, coprendo le modalit\ue0 radiologiche e biologiche emergenti. Sono stati inclusi articoli in lingua inglese. SINTESI DELL\u2019EVIDENZA: Attraverso questa revisione, sosteniamo l\u2019idea che un approccio sinergico che integri le caratteristiche morfologiche e biologiche di BC sar\ue0 probabilmente il futuro nella diagnosi e caratterizzazione precoce del BC. CONCLUSIONI: I radiologi dovrebbero essere informati del potenziale di nuovi metodi per la rilevazione della BC non strettamente basati sull\u2019imaging medico.INTRODUCTION: Breast cancer (BC) is a heterogeneous and complex disease and it is the most common cancer in women in most countries. Since early-stage detection of BC is vital for ensuring the most benefit from treatment, we highlight recent research studies dealing with BC detection and characterization, focusing both on new medical imaging techniques and biological tests. We briefly review the role of new emerging imaging modalities and describe the complementary role of biological methods for BC detection and charaterization such as liquid biopsy, microRNAs, ctDNA, CTCs, and genetic tests. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We conducted a literature review on PubMed/MEDLINE, focusing on recent studies (published after January 2020) to describe new detection methods for BC, covering emerging radiological and biological modalities. Articles in English language were included. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Through this review, we support the idea that a synergistic approach integrating the morphological and biological features of BC will probably be the future in the early detection and characterization of BC. CONCLUSIONS: Radiologists should be kept informed of the potential of new methods for BC detection not strictly based on medical imaging