Potential of combination of DCE-MRI and DWI with serum CA125 and CA199 in evaluating effectiveness of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer

BACKGROUND: To determine the potential of the combination of DCE-MRI imaging method with DWI and serum CA125 and CA199 levels in the evaluation of the efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. METHODS: Sixty-five breast cancer patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy in our hospital from April 2016 to April 2017 were selected as research subjects. The patients received 4 courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Lesions were monitored using DCE-MRI and DWI, while ELISA was used to measure the serum expression levels of the tumour markers CA125 and CA199. The patients were divided into the remission group and ineffective group based on pathological diagnosis. RESULTS: There were significant differences in K(ep), K(trans), ADC(min), ADC(mean), tumour volume, and serum levels of CA125 and CA199 in patients in the remission group, before and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and there were significant differences in post-chemotherapy values of these indexes between the remission group and the ineffective group (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Combination of DCE-MRI diagnostic imaging with DWI can directly reflect the lesions in breast cancer patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Serum levels of CA125 and CA199 levels are useful for evaluation of the impact of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on breast cancer patients, including risk of cancer cell metastasis and changes in some small lesions.