Status and Progress of Multimodal Ultrasound Diagnosis of Triple-negative Breast Cancer

Abstract

Breast cancer is a highly heterogeneous cancer that is exceptionally harmful to women. It is generally divided by immunohistochemistry into four primary molecular subtypes: triple-negative (TN), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) overexpression, luminal A, and luminal B. Different breast cancer molecular subtypes exhibit diverse biological traits, clinical symptoms, therapeutic responses, and prognoses. Among them, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly malignant subtype with no particular treatment modalities and an inferior prognosis. As diverse ultrasonographies can offer complementing information on various features of breast cancer, multimodal ultrasonography provides a more reliable method for predicting TNBC than conventional ultrasound alone. This article reviews the research status and progress of multimodal ultrasound diagnostic techniques such as traditional ultrasound combined with sonoelastography (SE), contrast ultrasonography (CEUS), three-dimensional ultrasound (3D-US) and superb microvascular imaging (SMI) in predicting triple-negative breast cancer. It aims to use ultrasound diagnosis technology to predict TNBC and provide a reference for guiding clinical treatment and enhancing prognosis.