Multidisciplinary Cancer Investigation
Volume:7 Issue: 3, Jul 2023

To evaluate the diagnostic efficiency of the gland-to-lesion strain ratio versus the fat-to-lesion strain ratio for breast tumor diagnosis.

The prospective study included 375 breast masses in 330 patients. B-mode ultrasound and elastography were performed for each mass. The gland-to-lesion strain ratio and fat-to-lesion strain ratio of the masses were calculated. The elasticity score of the lesions was also evaluated. The area under the curve, sensitivity, and specificity were calculated to compare the gland-to-lesion strain ratio with the fat-to-lesion strain ratio. Histopathological examination was considered the gold standard for final diagnosis.

Three hundred and seventy-five breast masses were included in our study (298 benign and 77 malignant). The gland-to-lesion strain ratio (GLR) and fat-to-lesion strain ratio (FLR) of the malignant lesions were significantly higher than those of benign lesions (P<0.0001 for both). The sensitivity and specificity of fat-to-lesion strain ratio were significantly better than gland-to-lesion strain ratio, (sensitivity, 96.1% versus 72% and specificity, 93.3% versus 81.1%). The area under the curve values for the fat-to-lesion strain ratio (0.990) and the elasticity score (0.972) were significantly higher than those for the gland-to-lesion strain ratio (0.820) (P < 0.0001). However, there was no significant difference between the area under the curve of the fat-to-lesion strain ratio and the area under the curve of the elasticity score (P=0.64).

The fat-to-lesion strain ratio provided better diagnostic performance than the gland-to-lesion strain ratio in breast mass characterization.

Nowadays, the applications of non-invasive treating cancer methods such as photothermal therapy (PTT) and sonodynamic therapy (SDT) are increasing. These treatments use photo/sonosensitizers, which are activated after being exposed by laser light irradiation and ultrasound (US) exposure, respectively.

Herein, a gold-poly (ortho-aminophenol) nanocomposite (Au-PoAP NC) with a spherical shape, a diameter of 46±8 nm was synthesized and evaluated as an 808-nm laser photosensitizer (with 30% photothermal efficiency) and a sonosensitizer upon US exposure. Additionally, Au-PoAP NC was appraised with doxorubicin (as a chemotherapy agent) for treating breast cancer cells. The MTT test was done for cell-toxicity evaluation of Au-PoAP NC, doxorubicin, and Au-PoAP NC with doxorubicin with or without irradiation and US exposure (separately and synchronously).

The results proved that light irradiation and US exposure (separately and synchronously) of Au-PoAP NC with doxorubicin significantly enhanced the cell toxicity in other treatment groups. Moreover, cytotoxicity of Au-PoAP NC, doxorubicin, and Au-PoAP NC with doxorubicin toward MCF-7 cells upon PTT and/or SDT was investigated from the aspect of reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Calculating the combination indices revealed that synchronous administration of Au-PoAP NC and doxorubicin and light irradiation and US exposure represented a synergistic therapeutic manner for treating cancer cells.

This study proved that the synchronous combination of PTT and SDT using Au-PoAP NC with doxorubicin would be an exemplary approach for treating the breast cancer cell line of MCF-7.