" Role of Diffusion Weighted Image in the Diagnosis and Follow up of Breast Cancer"

Most of the lesions that occur in the breast are benign lesions. It is important to recognize benign lesions and distinguish them from breast cancer.

Nowadays sonomammography still represents the primary imaging modality utilized for breast cancer screening and diagnosis.

Breast MRI has become an important tool for breast cancer detection and characterization.Contrast enhanced MRI(CE-MRI) is currently the most sensitive detection technique for diagnosis of breast cancer.Diffusion weighted imaging provides micro-structural informations regadrding the diffusion of the water molecules in the tissue cellularity and tissue structure by using the quantitive analysis with the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values.

Using Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) combined to MRI is helpful to distinguish malignant versus benign breast lesions and it also may reduce the number of unnecessarily breast biopsies.

Inclusion criteria

• * Female gender

• Age more than 18 years
• Patients presented with breast lump
• Patients with recurrent breast cancer following chemotherapy or radiotherapy sessions.

Exclusion criteria

• Male gender

• Age younger than 18 years
• Patients with recent breast trauma in the same diseased breast within the last 6 months
• Lactating female presented with acute symptoms as trauma or breast abscess
• Contraindication to perform MRI examination .these include : Cardiac pacemaker -Metallic aneurysm clips