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Advances in the application of ultrafast dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer
HUANG Qiuju  ZHOU Ying 

DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.05.030.


[Abstract] Breast cancer (BC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in women worldwide, making early detection and precision treatment critical for improving patient prognosis.With high soft-tissue resolution and sensitivity, dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) has become an important tool for BC screening, diagnosis, staging, and treatment response assessment. However, conventional DCE-MRI is limited in widespread clinical use due to long acquisition times, high costs, limited accessibility, and high demands on patient cooperation. Ultrafast dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (UF-DCE MRI) achieves a favorable balance between high temporal resolution and acceptable spatial resolution using techniques such as parallel imaging (PI), view sharing (VS), and compressed sensing (CS), allowing rapid breast image acquisition. Nevertheless, several key challenges restrict its clinical translation, including inconsistent imaging parameters and postprocessing pipelines, a predominance of single-center small-sample clinical evidence, limited spatial resolution that compromises morphological evaluation, and the early-stage development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications.This article systematically reviews the technical principles of UF-DCE MRI and its current applications in differentiating benign from malignant breast lesions, including subcentimeter lesions, predicting neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) response, and evaluating prognostic biomarkers. We further analyze the limitations and challenges of current technologies and discuss future prospects for its integration with AI.
[Keywords] ultrafast dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging；breast cancer；acceleration technology；neoadjuvant chemotherapy；prognostic markers

HUANG Qiuju1, 2   ZHOU Ying1*  

1 Department of Imaging, Lianyungang Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University (Lianyungang First People's Hospital), Lianyungang 222000, China

2 Department of Imaging, First People's Hospital of Guannan County, Guannan 222500, China

Corresponding author: ZHOU Y, E-mail: zhouying261@163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2026-02-21
Accepted  2026-04-15
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.05.030
DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.05.030.

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