Purpose: To evaluate elastographic features of triple negative breast cancers (TNBC), find some useful discriminators from other carcinomas and to compare it to the non TNBC.
Methods and Materials: We reviewed elastographic images of 26 TNBC. As a control group, 32 non TNBC (ER or HER 2 positive) were randomly selected.
Shear-wave (SW) elastographic evaluation mean (El mean), maximum (El max) and minimum (El min) elasticity of the stiffest portion of mass and surrounding tissue (El mean
surr); lesion to fat elasticity ratio (E ratio); SW elastographic lesion color (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, black), lesion shape (regular/irregular) and SW elastographic homogeneity (homogenous, moderately homogenous, heterogeneous) of all tumors in examined and control group was performed.
Results: TNBC present mostly as a red lesions and heterogeneous lesions with only 19.2% being purely
homogenous. TNBC appear as regular shaped lesions on elastography with significant statistical difference. TNBC are much less stiff comparing to non TNBC. Mean El mean was 135.93 ± 47.26 kPa. In examined group median E ratio was 5.45. Best elastographic feature for differentiating TBNC from other types of cancers with greatest sensitivity and specificity for the cut off value was El min. For values El min < =125.76 kPa there was sensitivity 80.8% and specificity 68.7% for TNBC.
Conclusions: TNBC can have some benign elastographic features (color and shape), they show decreased stiffness of the lesion, and lesion to fat stiffness ratio comparing to other types of breast cancer.
