Value of S-Detect combined with multimodal ultrasound in differentiating malignant from benign breast masses

Ultrasonography (US) still has some limitations in the differentiation of benign and malignant breast masses. Therefore, we introduced new technologies such as S-Detect, microvascular flow imaging (MVFI), and strain elastography (SE) into the examination and compared the multimodal method with Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System (BI-RADS).

This prospective study aimed to evaluate the value of multimodal diagnostic methods that add S-Detect, MFI, and SR to US in differentiating benign from malignant breast masses.

We recruited 186 patients with 189 masses between July 2021 and March 2022. The masses were examined using US, S-Detect, SR, and MFI before biopsy, and the benign and malignant differentiation value of each and their combination were assessed compared with surgical pathology results using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). Subgroup analysis by lesion size was also performed.

The respective optimal cutoff values of SR and MFI for differentiating benign from malignant masses were 3.15 and 2.45, respectively, and the sensitivity and specificity were 79.3% and 85.6% and 94.6% and 69.1%, respectively. The multimodal AUC (0.907), sensitivity (97.8%), accuracy (90.5%), PPV (84.9%), and NPV (97.6%) were larger than those of each modality (p < 0.05), regardless of the mass size.

The diagnostic method of S-Detect combined with multimodal ultrasound can effectively improve the diagnostic efficiency of breast masses and is expected to become a routine examination for breast in future for better evaluation the benign and malignancy of breast masses.