Association Between Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Characteristics and Molecular Subtypes of Breast Cancer

Objective This study aimed to investigate the correlation between contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) features and molecular subtypes of breast cancer (BC). Methods A total of 116 patients (116 lesions) with pathologically diagnosed BC who received conventional ultrasound and CEUS before surgery were enrolled in this study. BC molecular subtypes were identified by postoperative pathological and immunohistochemical analysis as Luminal A (LA), Luminal B (LB), HER2 (H2) over-expression, and triple-negative (TN). Qualitative and quantitative CEUS characteristics were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (continuous variables) or Pearson's chi(2) test or Fisher's exact probability method (categorical variables). Results There were significant differences in enhancement speed and enhancement degree among the four subtypes (P < .05). The area under the curve (AUC), time to peak (TTP), and peak intensity (PI) differed among the four subtypes (P < .05). The AUC of the LA subtype (305.1 +/- 188.4) was significantly smaller compared with the H2 (535.7 +/- 222.0, P = .007) and TN subtypes (496.6 +/- 254.7, P = .019). In addition, TTP was shorter in the H2 subtype (19.8 +/- 4.9) compared with the other subtypes, and was significantly shorter than in the LA subtype (26.3 +/- 7.2, P = .008) and LB subtype (23.1 +/- 6.7, P = .036). The PI of the LA subtype (4.7 +/- 2.3) was significantly lower than that of the LB (6.6 +/- 2.3, P = .027), H2 (7.4 +/- 2.2, P = .005), and TN subtypes (6.9 +/- 2.6, P = .014). Conclusions CEUS features differed significantly among different molecular subtypes of BC. The enhancement patterns and parameters may be important predictive features of different subtypes of BC.