Differences in Multi-Modal Ultrasound Imaging between Triple Negative and Non-Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Progress in the clinical detection of heterogeneity in breast cancer

“…Masumoto and colleagues found that perfusion parameters on CEUS were significantly associated with ER, Her-2, and Ki-67 status [95]. This result is consistent with other studies [96,97]. CEUS also achieved high accuracy in predicting the heterogeneity of the response of breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy [98,99].…”

Do Histopathological Features and Microcalcification Affect the Elasticity of Breast Cancer?

“…There are controversial results about the association between histological grade and elastography. Although some studies have found no relationship between histological features and elasticity, Lee at al claimed that histological Grade 3 cancers show higher stiffness than other grades as a result of higher tumor cellularity . In contrast, Dominkowic et al suggested that triple negative breast cancers, which have a higher histological grade, demonstrate benign morphological features with softer values on shear wave elastography .…”

“…However, there are controversial results about the association between histopathological features and sonoelastography. Although some studies have claimed that different histological grades and immunohistochemical findings show differences in stiffness, others have found no difference in all grades and varied histopathological findings . This could be the result of differing sample sizes of the groups and different techniques and interpretation of the classification in ultrasound elastography, including strain and shear wave elastography or color pattern diagnosis, strain ratio of the target lesion, and tissue elasticity.…”

Intrinsic Subtypes of Breast Cancers Initially Assessed as Probably Benign or of Low Suspicion on Ultrasonography Differ According to Tumor Size

“…Previous studies have shown that imaging features differ according to the intrinsic subtype . Although the expected malignancy rates are less than 2% and 10% for American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI‐RADS) category 3 and 4a lesions, respectively, triple‐negative breast cancers can also appear benign like on ultrasonography (US), so they can be overlooked as benign .…”

“…Breast cancer size is an important factor that affects the prognosis, and larger cancers have a worse prognosis than smaller cancers . Previous research found that initially detected breast cancers had tumor sizes that varied according to the intrinsic subtype and that the triple‐negative subtype was more frequently observed in larger tumors …”