Efficacy of shear-wave elastography versus dynamic optical breast imaging for predicting the pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in breast cancer

Purpose Explore the value of shear-wave elastography (SWE) parameters and dynamic optical breast imaging features for predicting pathological responses to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in breast cancer (BC). Method This prospective cohort study included 91 BC patients receiving NACT. Tumor size, SWE (maximum stiffness [Emax] and mean stiffness [Emean]), blood score (BS), and oxygen score (OS) and their relative changes were collected before (t0), during (t1–t5), and after NACT (t6). The pathological response was classified according to the residual cancer burden. Relationships between tumor size, SWE stiffness, BS, and OS at t0–t6 were analyzed, and their predictive power was compared. Results During six NACT cycles, tumor size, tumor stiffness, and BS decreased, and tumor OS increased. ΔEmean (t2), E2mean, BS2, and OS2 had a greater power than other indexes for predicting a favorable response (AUC = 0.79, 0.71, 0.77, 0.78) and a resistance response (0.86, 0.74, 0.71, 0.71). For the favorable response, predictive power did not differ significantly between ΔEmean (t2), E2mean, BS2, and OS2, whereas for the resistance response, ΔEmean (t2) showed better prediction than E2mean, BS2, and OS2. Conclusions SWE stiffness, BS, and OS exhibited good and similar performances in predicting a NACT favorable response, and SWE stiffness showed better performance than BS and OS in predicting NACT resistance. These results may provide an important reference for individualized treatment in BC patients receiving NACT.