AUTHOR=Ma Yujuan , Zhao Xuebo , Chen Xianxia 

TITLE=Contrast-enhanced ultrasound combined with elastic imaging for predicting the efficacy of concurrent chemoradiotherapy in cervical cancer: a feasibility study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology

VOLUME=Volume 14 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2024.1301900

DOI=10.3389/fonc.2024.1301900

ISSN=2234-943X

ABSTRACT=Results:There was no notable difference in overall clinical data between the CR group and the PR group (P>0.05). Before treatment, there were no statistically significant differences in elasticity score, TTP, and PI between the CR group and the PR group. However, there were no statistical differences in elastic SR and AUC before and after treatment between the CR group and the PR group, and there were also no statistical differences in the elastic SR and AUC of contrast-enhanced ultrasound parameters between the CR group and the PR group before and during treatment.There was a statistically significant difference after treatment (P<0.05).At present, the follow-up of patients is about 1 year, 7 patients were excluded due to loss to follow-up, and 91 patients were included in the follow-up study.Through the review of the cases and combined with MRI and serology and other related examinations, if the patient has a new lesion or the lesion is larger than before, the tumor marker SCC-Ag is significantly increased twice in a row, and the patient is divided into PD. Those who did not see significant changes were divided into SD group.The relationship between clinical characteristics, ultrasound parameters and disease progression in 91 patients was compared.There was no significant difference in age and clinical stage between the two groups (P>0.05), but there was a significant difference in the elevation of tumor marker SCC-Ag between the two groups (P<0.05).With the growth of tumors, TTP decreased, elasticity score and PI increased, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The AUC of SCC-Ag was 0.655, the sensitivity was 85.3%, and the specificity was 45.6%.The AUC, sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound parameters combined with SCC-Ag predicted disease progression was 0.959, 91.2% and 94.8%.
Conclusion: Using contrast-enhanced ultrasound and elastography to predict the efficacy and disease progression of concurrent chemoradiotherapy is feasible. In addition, the combination of SCC-Ag with contrast-enhanced ultrasound and elastography can further enhance the efficiency of predicting disease progression.