Predictive value of shear wave elastography and molecular subtypes for postoperative efficacy in patients with early breast cancer

To investigate the predictive value of shear wave elastography and molecular subtypes for the postoperative efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in patients with breast cancer (BC). A total of 57 patients with BC undergoing NAC were retrospectively recruited. The general and follow-up data of these patients were collected. The patients were divided into two groups: the pathological complete remission (pCR) group and the non-pCR group. There were significant differences in the proportion of the elastic modulus value (p = 0.005), Ki-67 expression level (p = 0.039) and molecular subtypes (p < 0.001) between the two groups. Patients with a high elastic modulus value, a high Ki-67 level, as well as triple-negative and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-positive BC were associated with poor overall survival and disease-free survival time (p < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis identified the elastic modulus value (odds ratio [OR]: 5.841 [3.714-6.112], p < 0.05), Ki-67 level (OR: 3.522 [1.865-3.897], p < 0.05) and molecular subtypes (OR: 4.331 [2.552-6.714], p < 0.05) as risk factors; logistic regression analysis also performed favourably for the prediction of pCR (area under the curve: 0.922 [0.871-0.934]) in patients with BC. Elastic modulus value, Ki-67 level and molecular subtypes are risk factors for pCR in patients with BC.