Aims and objectives
Early prediction of pathological complete response (pCR)is a prognostic factor in overall survival and disease-free survivalin patients with breast cancer (BC) during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).
NAC is recommended in patients with triple-negative breast cancer(TNBC),
Luminal B HER2-positive and HER-positive non-luminal subtype.At the moment,
clinical breast examination,
mammography,
B-mode ultrasound (US) imaging,
and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are used to monitor patients receiving NAC; however,
diagnostic standards have not yet been established.
The aim of this study was to determine,
whether changes intheUS (volume,
vasculature,
and...
Methods and materials
Prospective US analysis was performed on 42 malignant tumors in40 patients,
prior to NAC treatment and 7 days after the first four courses of NAC.All women were qualified for NAC at the Oncology Clinic.
NAC was administered according to guidelines in the protocol:AC (doxorubicin,
cyclophosphamide).B-modeUS examinations with breast SE were performed at the Department of Ultrasound,
Institute of Fundamental Technological Research Polish Academy of Science in Warsaw,
using anUSscanner (Ultrasonix Sonix Touch-Research,
Ultrasonix Medical Corporation,
Richmond,
BC,
Canada) with a linear array transducer L14-5/38 and...
Results
Changes in the echogenicity of tumors after the 3rd course of NAC had the statistical correlation with the percentage of residual malignant cells,
with the sensitivity of 84%,
specificity of93%,
PPV of 84%,
NPV of 94% and accuracy of 88%.
The Odds Ratio was 60.The decreasing in the stiffness of the lesions after 4thcourse of NAC and the alteration of the volume of the lesionsafter the first course of NAC were statistically significant between the RT and N-RT groups (p< 0.05).There was no statistically significant...
Conclusion
This is the first preliminary study to present the alteration in echogenicity from hypoechoic to isoechoic as a US feature that can predict breast tumor response to NAC.Our results demonstrated that the change in echogenicity (from hypoechogenic to iso- or mixed) after the third course of NAC has excellent accuracy and a very high odds ratio in distinguishing between N-RT and RT (Fig.1-6,
Fig.7-13).Matsuda et al.
published results which are in agreement with ours.
Their study was based on 52 patients with TNBC,
and they...
Personal information
Dobruch-Sobczak K is a senior assistantin II Radiology Department of the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Institute of Oncology in Warsaw and in
Department of Ultrasound of theInstitute of Fundamental Technological Research,
the Polish Academy of Sciences:
References
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Suzuki K,
Yamauchi H,
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