Ultrasonic elastic characteristics of breast cancers with different molecular subtype / 中国医学影像技术

ABSTRACT

Objective: To observe elastic features of breast cancer with different molecular subtype using virtual touch tissue imaging quantification (VTIQ) technique. Methods: Totally 101 patients with pathologically proven breast cancers were collected. All patients underwent preoperative routine ultrasound and VTIQ examination. The elastic features and the maximum shear wave velocity (SWVmax) were obtained with VTIQ technique, and the molecular subtypes of breast cancers were recorded according to pathological findings after surgical resection. The elastic features and SWVmax of different molecular subtype breast cancer were analyzed. Results: The predominant elastic model of Luminal tumor was edge advantage, of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2epidermal growth factor 2 (HER-2) expression type tumor was center advantage, while of triple-negative type tumor was homogeneity (PLuminal B type>HER-2 expression type>triple-negative type. No significant difference of SWVmax in central region of breast cancer was observed among different molecular subtypes (P>0.05), nor of SWVmax in tumor surrounding tissue (P>0.05). Conclusion: The elastic features and SWVmax, especially in the marginal regions of breast cancers are related with molecular subtype,which may reflect the biological characteristics of breast cancer on certain degree. VTIQ may be helpful to treatment planning and evaluation on prognosis of breast cancer.