Assessing Risk Category of Breast Cancer by Ultrasound Imaging Characteristics

The purpose of our study was to assess the potential clinical value of ultrasound imaging in predicting risk category in patients with breast cancer. Three hundred thirty-six patients were enrolled and divided into a high-risk group (99, 29.5%) and mid- to low-risk group (237, 70.5%) according to the St. Gallen risk criteria. All data were retrospectively collected to analyze correlations between ultrasound features and risk category. The results revealed that the ultrasound features of irregular shape (p = 0.002), vertical growth orientation (p = 0.002), angular contour (p = 0.022) and high color Doppler flow imaging grade (p = 0.001) tended to be present in images of the high-risk group. Therefore, tumor ultrasound features should be recognized as an ideal option for determination of risk category in patients with breast cancer.