Utility of ultrasound Angio-PLUS imaging for detecting blood flow in breast masses and comparison with color Doppler for differentiating benign from malignant masses.

Background: Tumor neo-angiogenesis plays an important role in the development and growth of breast cancers, but its detection by imaging is challenging. A novel microvascular imaging (MVI) technique, Angio-PLUS, promises to overcome the limitations of color Doppler (CD) in detecting low-velocity flow and small diameter vessels.

Purpose: To determine the utility of the Angio-PLUS technique for detecting blood flow in breast masses and compare it with CD for differentiating benign from malignant masses.

Material And Methods: A total of 79 consecutive women with breast masses were prospectively evaluated using CD and Angio-PLUS techniques, and biopsied as per BI-RADS recommendations. Vascular imaging scores were assigned using three factors (number, morphology, and distribution) and vascular patterns were divided into five groups: internal-dot-spot, external-dot-spot, marginal, radial, and mesh patterns. The independent samples -test, Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon signed rank test, or Fisher's exact test were used to compare the two groups as appropriate. Area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC) methods were used to assess diagnostic accuracy.

Results: Vascular scores were significantly higher on Angio-PLUS than CD (median=11, [IQR=9-13] vs. 5 [IQR=3-9],  < 0.001). Malignant masses had higher vascular scores than benign masses on Angio-PLUS ( < 0.001). AUC was 80% (95% CI=70.3-89.7;  < 0.001) for Angio-PLUS and 51.9% for CD. Using Angio-PLUS at a cutoff value of ≥9.5, sensitivity was 80% and specificity was 66.7%. Vascular pattern descriptors on AP showed good correlation with histopathological results (PPV mesh 95.5%, radial 96.9%, and NPV of marginal orientation 90.5%).

Conclusion: Angio-PLUS was more sensitive in detecting vascularity and superior in differentiating benign from malignant masses compared to CD. Vascular pattern descriptors on Angio-PLUS were useful.