Quantitative ultrasound for tumour characterization and a priorichemotherapy response prediction

Abstract

Previous studies have demonstrated that quantitative ultrasound (QUS) is an effective tool for monitoring breast cancer patients undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Here, for the first time, we demonstrate the clinical utility of pre-treatment QUS texture features in predicting the response of breast cancer patients to NAC. Using a 6 MHz center frequency clinical ultrasound imaging system, radiofrequency breast ultrasound data were acquired from 92 locally advanced breast cancer patients prior to their NAC treatment. QUS spectral parameters including mid-band fit, spectral slope, and spectral intercept, and average acoustic concentration and average scatterer diameter were computed from regions of interest in the tumor core and its margin. Subsequently, gray-level co-occurrence matrix textural features were extracted from the parametric images as potential predictive indicators. Results were compared with the clinico-pathological response of each patient determined at their treatment end. A composite QUS...