Is there a correlation between signal intensity ratio of 3T MRI and molecular subtypes of breast cancer?

Yuanping Tao; Hongyan Chao; Yue Ren; Wanjun Zheng; Yuyou Chen; Liang Du; Huanguo Li; Feng Cui

doi:10.2478/raon-2026-0029

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Is there a correlation between signal intensity ratio of 3T MRI and molecular subtypes of breast cancer?

Radiology and Oncology

AHEAD OF PRINT

By: Yuanping Tao, Hongyan Chao, Yue Ren, Wanjun Zheng, Yuyou Chen, Liang Du, Huanguo Li and Feng Cui

Open Access

|Jul 2026

Abstract

Background

The study aimed to test whether tumoral signal intensity ratio (SIR) and other indicators of 3T MRI provides information related to molecular subtypes of breast cancer.

Patients and methods

Between January 2022 and August 2025, 256 patients with breast cancer underwent 3T MRI. MRI morphological features and quantitative parameters (T1 SIR, T2 SIR, mean apparent diffusion coefficient [ADC] from diffusion-weighted imaging [DWI] and tumor diameter) were compared and measured according to molecular subtypes. Logistic regression was performed to find the related MRI parameters and establish combined parameters. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was finally performed to test the diagnostic power of multivariate logistic regression model.

Results

263 lesions were considered. Triple-negative (TN) subtype exhibited the highest T2 SIR and lowest T1 SIR (p < 0.05). Mean ADC values in TN were the lowest and highest in human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-enriched type (p < 0.001). Tumor diameter of HER2-enriched was the smallest, and that of triple-negative subtype was the largest (p < 0.001). Independent influencing factors were higher T2 SIR (p = 0.017) and larger tumor diameter (p = 0.011) associated with triple-negative subtype, and T1 SIR (p = < 0.01) was the only quantitative parameter associated with HER2-enriched subtype. The combined parameter (mean ADC + tumor diameter) achieved a largest area under the ROC curve (AUC = 0.781) for separating luminal A subtype.

Conclusions

Quantitative MRI parameters are correlated with the molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Combined parameters incorporating T1 SIR and T2 SIR exhibit potential diagnostic utility for differentiating HER2-enriched and triple-negative subtypes, respectively. T1 SIR and T2 SIR can enrich quantitative descriptors from breast MRI.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2026-0029 | Journal eISSN: 1581-3207 | Journal ISSN: 1318-2099

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Language: English

Submitted on: Jan 23, 2026

Accepted on: Apr 11, 2026

Published on: Jul 4, 2026

Published by: Association of Radiology and Oncology

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

breast cancer,

signal intensity ratio,

Related subjects:

© 2026 Yuanping Tao, Hongyan Chao, Yue Ren, Wanjun Zheng, Yuyou Chen, Liang Du, Huanguo Li, Feng Cui, published by Association of Radiology and Oncology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

AHEAD OF PRINT