Correlation of ultrasound perfusion imaging and angiogenesis of ovarian tumors

The aim of this present study was to evaluate the relationship between perfusion characteristics of ovarian tumors and tumor angiogenesis using contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging.

Dose 116 patients with ovarian tumors were preoperatively subjected to contrast-enhanced perfusion imaging. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and CD34 in ovarian tumors. The correlation between the VEGF positive index, microvessel density (MVD) of ovarian tumors and ultrasound perfusion parameters was investigated. We also established a nude mouse ovarian cancer SKOV3 xenograft model; the expression of VEGF and MVD in the transplanted tumor was observed, and their correlation with the ultrasound perfusion parameters was studied.

The MVD and VEGF positive indexes of ovarian tumors were positively correlated with the peak intensity (PI), area under the curve (AUC) and time from peak to one half (TTH) of the ultrasound perfusion parameters. The correlation coefficients between MVD and the PI, AUC and TTH were 0.69, 0.71 and 0.59, respectively, while the correlation coefficients between the VEGF positive index and the PI, AUC and TTH were 0.71, 0.65 and 0.68, respectively. Moreover, there were significant differences in the PI, AUC and TTH between the high-MVD and low-MVD groups (P<0.05). Furthermore, the same trend was found in the xenograft model.

the ultrasound perfusion parameters PI, AUC and TTH of ovarian tumors were positively correlated with the tumor MVD and VEGF positive index, which reflects the angiogenesis status of ovarian tumors and provides important information for the diagnosis and treatment of ovarian tumors.