Objective:

To investigate the value of ultrasound elastography (UE) combined with ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy (UGCNB) in the diagnosis of benign and malignant breast lesions

and the consistency with postoperative pathological findings.

Methods:

A total of 98 patients with suspected breast cancer from October 2020 to October 2022 were selected and examined by UE and UGCNB

and the postoperative pathological findings were used as the “gold standard”. The quantitative parameters of UE ［strain ratio (SR) and area ratio (AR)］ were compared between benign breast tumors and breast cancer patients

and the correlation between quantitative parameters of UE and clinical characteristics of breast cancer was analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to analyze the value of UE quantitative parameters in diagnosing the benign and malignant breast lesions

and to analyze the consistency of UE and UGCNB alone and in combination with postoperative pathological findings.

Results:

In 98 cases of suspected breast cancer

53 cases of breast cancer were detected by postoperative pathology

46 cases of breast cancer were detected by UE

and 50 cases of breast cancer were detected by UGCNB. SR and AR of breast cancer patients were higher than benign breast tumor patients (

P

0.05). The expression of SR and AR in breast cancer patients with differentclinical stages

lymph node metastasis status

the positive expression of estrogen receptor (ER)

progesterone receptor (PR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)

Ki-67 proliferation index were significantly different (

P

0.05). SR and AR were positively correlated with the high clinical stage

lymph node metastasis

HER2

+

Ki-67 proliferation index of breast cancer

and negatively correlated with ER

+

and PR

+

(

P

0.05). The area under curves (AUCs) for individual diagnosis of SR and AR were 0.715 and 0.682

respectively

while the AUC for combine

d diagnosis was 0.849. The consistency between UE alone diagnosis of benign and malignant breast lesions and postoperative pathologic examination results was 0.655

and the consistency between UGCNB alone diagnosis and postoperative pathologic examination results was 0.939

and the consistency between the combined diagnosis and postoperative pathologic examination results was 0.979

and the accuracy of the combined diagnosis was higher than that of UE alone (

P

0.05).

Conclusion:

UE combined with UGCNB examination can effectively improve the accuracy of preoperative diagnosis of breast cancer

and provide a basis for early clinical qualitative diagnosis

disease assessment and intervention plan formulation.