ShearWave™ Elastography of Breast Lesions in Chinese Patients

Assessment of ShearWave™ Elastography in the Ultrasonic Diagnosis of Breast Cancer in Chinese Patients

We aim to determine if adding ShearWave Elastography to a standard ultrasound breast exam can improve the characterization (classification) of breast lesions.

Chinese women are known to have denser breasts than women in Western countries. Mammography cannot find abnormalities easily in denser breasts, while breast ultrasound is not affected by density. Adding elastography, a stiffness measurement, to a breast ultrasound exam should improve the diagnosis of a lesion.

Inclusion Criteria:

• female

• 18 years of age or older

• known breast lesion that has not been managed or treated

• referred for a breast ultrasound because of a breast mass found on at least one of the following examinations:

  • physical palpation
  • mammography
  • ultrasound exam
  • MRI

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women who are unwilling or unable to provide informed consent
• Women with breast implants
• Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding
• Women in whom all lesions are diagnostically categorized as BI-RADS 0, 1 or 6
• Women with previous ipsilateral breast surgery
• Women with no visible breast mass on ultrasound examination
• Women with axillary metastatic lymph nodes only
• Women with foreign body in the breast
• Women who are not Chinese nationality