Background: There is insufficient research on the correlation between the apparent diffusion coefficient and clinicopathological characteristics of breast cancer patients. The present study is to investigate the correlation between the apparent diffusion coefficient and pathological characteristics of patients with invasive breast cancer.Methods: From January 2019 to September 2020, 122 cases of invasive breast cancer and 21 cases of benign tumors were retrospectively enrolled. The apparent diffusion coefficient was compared between the two groups, and the correlation between the apparent diffusion coefficient and the pathological characteristics of the patients with invasive breast cancer were analyzed.Results: Compared with the benign tumor group, the apparent diffusion coefficient in the invasive breast cancer group was significantly lower (0.89±0.17 vs. 1.47±0.27 10 −3 mm 2 /s, P=0.000). Using the apparent diffusion coefficient to diagnose patients with invasive breast cancer, the area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.966±0.021 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.924-1.000, P=0.000], and the best diagnostic cut-off value was 1.16 (10 −3 mm 2 /s), with sensitivity and specificity of 0.905 and 0.902, respectively. The apparent diffusion coefficient was used to diagnose vascular tumor thrombus in patients with invasive breast cancer. The area under the ROC curve was 0.641±0.068 (95% CI: 0.508-0.774, P=0.047), and the best diagnostic threshold was 0.835 (10 −3 mm 2 /s), with sensitivity and specificity of 0.676 and 0.650, respectively. The apparent diffusion coefficient in patients with high expression of Ki-67 (%) was significantly reduced (0.87±0.17 vs. 1.00±0.16 10 −3 mm 2 /s, P=0.000). The apparent diffusion coefficient was not significantly correlated with age, menopause, lesion size, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, or lymph node metastasis in patients with invasive breast cancer (P>0.05). Conclusions:In patients with invasive breast cancer the apparent diffusion coefficient was significantly reduced. It was able to differentiate invasive breast cancer and vascular tumor thrombus, and was also related to Ki-67 (%) high expression.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has attracted more attention both clinically and experimentally because of its high-risk biological characteristics and lacking of effective treatment method. The tumour characteristics, patterns of recurrence and metastasis, therapy methods and prognosis in younger TNBC patients have been widely formulated, but the relevant data of the elderly people are lacking. We conducted this retrospective study to compare and analyse the above-related characteristics between the younger and elderly patients with TNBC to estimate the relevance for the elderly TNBC patients. A total of 1489 female patients with primary breast cancer were diagnosed and treated at the department of General Surgery, the Chinese PLA General Hospital, China, from January 2004 to December 2008. In the 1489 patients, 302 patients (20.28%) with TNBC histopathologically confirmed were retrospectively analysed. The 302 TNBC patients were divided into two groups: the younger (<60 years) group and the elderly (≥60 years) group. The relevant characteristics of the two groups were compared. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in common clinical data of the patients, clinicopathological features of tumour and the features of local recurrences and metastases of tumour, and the 5-year disease-free survival and overall survival were all significantly higher in the elderly group than those in the younger group, although the elderly group patients accepted significantly less radiotherapy and chemotherapy than the younger group patients. The elderly and younger TNBC patients may belong to different subtypes of TNBC and we probably could take a more conservative and cautious attitude in choosing the post-operative adjuvant treatment for the elderly patients with TNBC.

Introduction. Metaplastic breast carcinoma is a rare special type of breast cancer, which has distinguished clinical characteristics. We aimed to evaluate the clinicopathological features of metaplastic breast carcinoma compared with nonspecific invasive breast carcinoma and study the prognosis of metaplastic breast carcinoma. Methods. We reviewed metaplastic breast carcinoma cases (n = 37) from January 2000 to December 2021 and nonspecific invasive breast carcinoma cases (n = 433) from January 2019 to December 2020 extracted from our institution retrospectively. The following variables were recorded, including the patients’ general information, complications, T stage, expression of estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2, Ki-67, molecular subtyping, lymph node status, skin or chest wall involvement, vessel carcinoma embolus, therapy modality (surgical treatments, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy), and survival. Results. Patients with metaplastic breast carcinoma had more advanced disease than patients with nonspecific invasive breast carcinoma (T stage:   P = 0.0011 ). A greater proportion of metaplastic breast carcinoma presented with triple-negative breast cancer than nonspecific invasive breast carcinoma (79.41% vs. 12.47%,   P ≤ 0.001 ). Our study showed that the skin or chest wall invasion was more frequent in metaplastic breast carcinoma patients (11.76% vs. 1.62%,   P = 0.005 ). The 5-year survival rate for metaplastic breast carcinoma patients was 57.66% (95% CI: 0.3195∼0.7667). No local recurrence was observed while distant metastasis occurred in 33.33% of patients with metaplastic breast carcinoma. Death due to disease occurred in 24.24% of patients with metaplastic breast carcinoma. Conclusion. The majority of metaplastic breast carcinoma patients had more advanced disease and triple-negative disease than nonspecific invasive breast carcinoma patients. Also, metaplastic breast carcinoma patients had frequent skin or chest wall invasion and a high rate of distant metastasis and mortality.

Ultrasound-guided vacuum-assisted breast biopsy (VABB) is a common technique in breast surgery. To standardize this technique, the Chinese Society of Breast Surgery (CSBrS) re-evaluated the quality of evidence for clinical studies of VABB, referring to the grading of recommendations assessment, development, and evaluation, and developed the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Ultrasoundguided vacuum-assisted breast biopsy: CSBrS Practice Guidelines 2021, in accordance with the Expert Consensus and Operation Guidelines for Ultrasound-guided Vacuumassisted Breast Biopsy Surgery (2017) combined with data from clinical practice in breast surgery in China, providing a reference for breast surgeons in China.

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