Changes in the tumor oxygenation but not in the tumor volume and tumor vascularization reflect early response of breast cancer to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (original) (raw)

Background Breast cancer neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) allows assessing tumor sensitivity to systemic treatment, planning adjuvant treatment and follow-up. However, a sufficiently large number of patients fail to achieve the desired level of pathological tumor response while optimal early response assessment methods have not been established now. In our study, we simultaneously assessed the early chemotherapy-induced changes in the tumor volume by Ultrasound (US), the tumor oxygenation by Diffuse Optical Spectroscopy Imaging (DOSI) and the state of the tumor vascular bed by Doppler US to elaborate the predictive criteria of breast tumor response to treatment. Methods A total of 133 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of invasive breast cancer stage II to III admitted to NACT with following definitive breast surgery were enrolled, 108 of them completed the therapy. Tumor oxygenation by DOSI, tumor volume by US and tumor vascularization by Doppler US were determined before the first...