Color Doppler ultrasound as an objective assessment tool for chemotherapeutic response in advanced breast cancer

In our part of the world, the majority of the patients with breast cancer present with locally advanced disease and require neo-adjuvant chemotherapy as the primary treatment modality. It is essential to monitor the response to chemotherapy in these patients. Clinical examination as the sole criterion of response assessment is entirely subjective and fallacious. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) are expensive. The role of Doppler ultrasonography as an imaging modality for this purpose is therefore being evaluated.

A prospective study was undertaken of 25 cases of locally advanced breast carcinoma (LABC) and Color Doppler sonography was used for the sequential assessment of chemotherapeutic response. The response assessed on the basis of clinical examination and Color Doppler was compared with the histological response. The parameters assessed on color Doppler were a change in the number of flow signals, maximum flow velocity (Vmax), pulsatility index (PI) and resistivity index (RI). Responses were analysed statistically using the Pearson correlation coefficient and Kappa statistics (kappa). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive & negative predictive values for predicting complete histological response were calculated.

Color Doppler showed a sensitivity of 88.88 % for predicting complete histological response. The negative predictive value of color Doppler was 92.3 %. A significant correlation was obtained between color Doppler and histopathological response.

Color Doppler was found to be an objective and effective tool or modality compared with clinical evaluation in sequential response assessment, especially for predicting complete histological response.