Hui Wang,1,* Cui-Ying Li,1,* Hai-Ling Zha,1 Di Xu,1 Zhi-Bin Hu2
1Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 210029, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Epidemiology, Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, 211166, People’s Republic of China
*These authors contributed equally to this work
Correspondence: Zhi-Bin Hu
Department of Epidemiology, Center for Global Health, School of Public Health, Nanjing Medical University, No. 101 Longmian Avenue, Jiangning District, Nanjing, 211166, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China
Tel +86-25-86868437
Email [email protected]
Di Xu
Department of Ultrasound, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing, 210029, Jiangsu, People’s Republic of China
Tel +86-25-83714511
Email [email protected]
Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic and predictive value of strain ratios in the regions of interests (ROIs) in reference tissue for breast tumor.
Patients and Methods: A total of 707 lesions in 665 consecutive patients were examined with B-mode Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS) and Ultrasonic elastography (UE). Elasticity score (ES) and strain ratio (SR) in each lesion were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess the diagnostic value of BI-RADS, ES, SR1, SR2, BI-RADS combined with ES (BI-RADS+ES), BI-RADS combined with SR1 (BI-RADS+SR1), and BI-RADS combined with SR2 (BI-RADS+SR2). The sensitivity, specificity, and areas under the ROC curves (Az) were obtained. Scatter plots were generated to demonstrate the correlation between SR1 and SR2. Kruskal-Walls H-test, Mann–Whitney U-test and one-way ANOVA were performed to evaluate SRs and tumor-related variables. Multiple linear regression analysis was carried out to determine variables independently associated with SRs.
Results: BI-RADS had high sensitivity and low specificity in the diagnosis of breast tumor. The specificity of BI-BADS combined with ES or SR was even higher. The Az value of BI-RADS+ES or BI-RADS+SRs was higher than that of BI-RADS (P < 0.001). The Az value of ES was higher than those of SR1 and SR2 (P < 0.001), and those of SR1 and SR2 were similar. SR1 and SR2 were highly positively correlated. There was no statistical difference between Az values of BI-RADS+ES, BI-RADS+SR1, and BI-RADS+SR2. Indistinct margin, high histologic grade, histological type, and negative human epidermal growth factor receptor (Her-2) were associated with SR1 and SR2. Progesterone receptor (PR) status and molecular subtype were associated with SR2. Histologic grade and tumor margin were significantly associated with SR1, and tumor margin was associated with SR2.
Conclusion: SRs in different ROIs in the reference tissue at the same depth showed no different diagnostic value for breast tumor. Both SR1 and SR2 could be useful in assessing the biological characteristics of invasive breast carcinoma.
Keywords: conventional ultrasonography, Breast Imaging-Reporting and Data System, ultrasonic elastography, elasticity score, strain ratio
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