Correlation of contrast-enhanced ultrasound features with prognostic factors in invasive ductal carcinomas of the breast.

Abstract

To correlate contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) features with pathological prognostic factors of breast invasive ductal carcinomas (IDCs). 169 patients who were admitted to our hospital with confirmed IDCs diagnosed between August 2017 and June 2019 were selected. CEUS indicators included the time of contrast agent entered the lesion, the degree of enhancement, the boundary of the lesion, whether there was perfusion defect and nourishing blood vessels, and etc. These parameters correlated with traditional prognostic factors (tumour size, histological grade, axillary lymph node status) and immunohistochemical biomarkers (ER, PR, c-erbB-2, Ki-67, and TOPO-II). Perfusion defects after enhancement were predictive factors of PR negative expression (r = -0.318, OR = 0.239) and TOPO-II overexpression (r = 0.284, OR = 3.577). Centripetal enhancement was negatively correlated with ER expression (r = -0.350, OR = 0.246). The lesions with a larger range after enhancement than the conventional ultrasound had a higher histological grade (r = 0.215). Perfusion defects were positively correlated with lymph node metastasis (r = 0.221) and negatively correlated with the expression of ER and PR (r = -0.342, r = -0.318). Contrast-enhanced ultrasound features of IDCs have a certain correlation with pathological prognostic factors, which is conducive in assessing the prognosis of these patients.