Effect of Ultrasound Combined With Microbubbles on Blood Perfusion in Invasive Breast Cancer

Effect of Ultrasound Combined With Microbubbles on Blood Perfusion in Invasive Breast Cancer

Blood perfusion insufficiency and hypoxia are the main causes of drug resistance to chemotherapy in breast cancer. Increasing blood perfusion can improve drug delivery. The cavitation effect of ultrasound-stimulated microbubbles (USMBs) is known to enhance tumor blood perfusion, so we conducted a prospective human study to investigate the effects of USMBs on hemoperfusion in invasive breast cancer (IBC).

patients with IBC were selected from the breast surgery department of our hospital. To induce an enhanced perfusion effect, IBC tumors were treated with SonoVue® microbubbles (MBs) stimulated by ultrasound, with a mechanical index (MI) of 0.2-0.3; 1 mL of SonoVue® MBs were injected at 3.5-min intervals three times for a USMB treatment lasting 10 min. The contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) parameters peak intensity (PI), area under the curve (AUC), and perfusion area were used to evaluate the changes in blood perfusion.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Clinical diagnosis of Invasive Breast Cancer
• patients scheduled to undergo surgical resection
• maximum lesion diameter < 4 cm
• age over 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• patients with allergies to SonoVue®
• patients with severe cardiopulmonary insufficiency,
• patients who had already received neoadjuvant chemotherapy
• pregnant women
• individuals with mental illness
• Patients who refused to participate in the study