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Advances in the application of magnetic resonance habitat imaging for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer
XUE Yufei  WANG Weiwei  MA Shu  SUN Zhanguo 

Cite this article as: XUE Y F, WANG W W, MA S, et al. Advances in the application of magnetic resonance habitat imaging for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(7): 154-159. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.07.025.


[Abstract] Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide, and early diagnosis combined with standardized treatment are critical for improving patient prognosis. Tumor heterogeneity, as a key challenge in breast cancer research and clinical management, profoundly impacts tumor progression, metastatic potential, and treatment response. Tumor habitat imaging, which performs cluster analysis on intra-tumoral regions and their microenvironment by identifying subregions with similar characteristics, provides new perspectives into intratumoral heterogeneity. Habitat imaging based on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), by virtue of its technical advantages such as non-invasiveness and high resolution, enables non-invasive quantification of tumor heterogeneity. This article reviews the research progress of habitat imaging in breast cancer MRI, covering its applications in predicting hormone receptor status, molecular subtypes, lymphovascular invasion, axillary lymph node metastasis, treatment response prediction and evaluation, and prognosis assessment. The aim is to provide new ideas for precision diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer (including early diagnosis, therapeutic efficacy assessment, etc.).
[Keywords] breast cancer；habitat imaging；tumor microenvironment；heterogeneity；tumor microenvironment；magnetic resonance imaging

XUE Yufei1   WANG Weiwei2   MA Shu3   SUN Zhanguo2*  

1 College of Medical Imaging and Laboratory,Jining Medical University, Jining 272002, China

2 Department of Medical Imaging, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University, Jining 272029, China

3 Department of Breast Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical College, Jining 272029, China

Corresponding author: SUN Z G, E-mail: yingxiangszg@163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2025-05-01
Accepted  2025-07-06
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.07.025
Cite this article as: XUE Y F, WANG W W, MA S, et al. Advances in the application of magnetic resonance habitat imaging for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(7): 154-159. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.07.025.

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