Potential application value of Doppler ultrasonography in neoadjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the ultrasonography with Power Doppler, by quantifying the vascular density by Vascularity Index (VI), to predict the pathologic response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for breast cancer (BC).

For this prospective observational study, 20 patients were recruited with a histological diagnosis of infiltrating breast carcinoma and indication for NAC. Patients were submitted to ultrasonography with Power Doppler. Tumor vascular density was evaluated by computer software SysArea©1, before treatment, after 2 or 3 cycles of chemotherapy and at the end of treatment. The pathologic response was analyzed. The sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values for the histological response were also calculated and P-values <0.05.

VI showed a sensitivity of 88.88%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100% and negative predictive value of 91.66% for the pathologic response, as well as being strongly associated with it. The variation of VI, in terms of either an increase or decrease after 2 or 3 cycles of chemotherapy, significantly predicted the final histological response.

The analysis of VI was predictive and showed a strong correlation with histological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy for BC.