Microwave Imaging for Monitoring Breast Cancer Treatment During Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Microwave imaging for tumor detection has been previously reported, while the potential of microwave imaging for treatment monitoring has been explored in two papers. In this study, we expand this body of knowledge by using microwave imaging to monitor breast cancer treatment during chemotherapy. The volunteers participating in this study have early-stage or locally advanced breast cancer, and undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy as the initial treatment prior to surgery. The treatment protocols range from 6 to 8 cycles, which are 2 or 3 weeks apart. Microwave scans are performed on both healthy and cancerous breasts before each chemotherapy cycle. This paper presents the results of one patient with dense breasts scanned across different visits, demonstrating the differences in permittivity between the cancerous and healthy breasts before starting chemotherapy and illustrating that the permittivity of the cancerous breast changes during treatment.