Comparison of shear-wave and strain ultrasound elastography in the differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this article is to compare the diagnostic performances of shearwave and strain elastography for the differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

B-mode ultrasound and shear-wave and strain elastography were performed in 150 breast lesions; 71 were malignant. BI-RADS final assessment, elasticity values in kilopascals, and elasticity scores on a 5-point scale were assessed before biopsy. The results were compared using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

RESULTS

The AUC for shear-wave elastography was similar to that of strain elastography (0.928 vs 0.943). The combined use of B-mode ultrasound and either elastography technique improved diagnostic performance in the differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions compared with the use of B-mode ultrasound alone (B-mode alone, AUC = 0.851; B-mode plus shear-wave elastography, AUC = 0.964; B-mode plus strain elastography, AUC = 0.965; p < 0.001). With the best cutoff points of 80 kPa on shear-wave elastography and a score between 3 and 4 on strain elastography, the sensitivity was higher in shear-wave elastography, and specificity was higher in strain elastography (95.8% vs 81.7%, p = 0.002; 93.7% vs 84.8%, p = 0.016). In cases of infiltrating ductal carcinoma, mean elasticity scores were lower in grade 3 than in grade 1 and 2 cancers (p = 0.017) with strain elastography causing false-negative findings.

CONCLUSION

The diagnostic performance of shear-wave and strain elastography was similar. Either elastography technique can improve overall diagnostic performance in the differentiation of benign and malignant lesions when combined with B-mode ultrasound. However, the sensitivity and specificity of shear-wave and strain elastography were different according to lesion histologic profile, tumor grade, and breast thickness.