ABSTRACT
Objective The incidence of breast cancer in China obviously keeps rising in recent years. The optical tomo?graphy image ultrasonography system ( OPTIMUS) is gradually applied in clinic as a new imaging diagnostic technique, but few system?atic studies are reported on its application to the diagnosis of breast tumors. The aim of this study was to assess the value of OPTIMUS in differentiating benign and malignant breast masses by measuring the maximum hemoglobin concentration ( MHC) in the lesions using OPTIMUS with the help of the results of controlled pathological study. Methods This prospective study included 380 cases of breast tumor ( 210 benign and 170 malignant ) treated from April 2009 to April 2014. We measured the MHC using OPTIMUS, detected the expressions of VEGF and PECAM?1/CD31 by immunohistochemistry, calculated the optimal threshold valve of MHC in predicting breast malignancy with the ROC curve, and analyzed the correlation of the MHC value with benign and malignant lesions, lymph node metasta?sis, and the expressions of VEGF and PECAM?1/CD31. Results The mean MHC was significantly higher in the malignant than in the benign lesions ([215.33±69.31] vs [116.50±55.31] μmol/L, P<0.01). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 0.836 (95%CI 0.684-0.989). The optimal threshold valve in the diagnosis of malignant breast lesions was 135.00 μmol/L, with a sensitivity of 84.7% and a specificity of 89%. When the tumor was≤2 cm, the MHC was significantly higher in the patients with lymph node metas?tasis than in those without ([207.73±66.43] vs [184.36±62.13] μmol/L, P<0.05). However, the MHC was markedly lower in the benign masses with VEGF and PECAM?1/CD31 negative than in the malignant lesions with VEGF and PECAM?1/CD31 positive ([116.50±55.31] vs [205.73±72.46] μmol/L, P<0.05) and strongly positive ([244.21±63.56] μmol/L, P<0.05). Strongly posi?tive expressions of VEGF and PECAM?1/CD31 were positively correlated with MHC ( P<0.05) . Conclusion Measurement of MHC by OPTIMUS contributes to the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast lesions and has a potential value for preoperative assessment of the prognosis of breast cancer.