Diagnostic value of breast ultrasound BI-RADS classification combined with TGF-β detection in breast cancer patients

To investigate the diagnostic value of breast ultrasound breast imaging reporting and data system (BIRADS) classification combined with transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) detection to differentiate malignant from benign tumors. This study enrolled 163 patients with breast tumor (breast cancer of 104 cases and breast benign tumor of 59 cases) who were admitted to Cangzhou Central Hospital from February 2016 to May 2017. All patients underwent breast ultrasound detection. Peripheral blood was collected before treatment and tested for mRNA expression of TGF-β by quantitative real-time PCR. Twenty ageand sex-matched healthy people were selected as controls. The area under receiver-operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of BIRADS classification, TGF-β mRNA expression and the combination of these two. X2 test and fisher exact test were used to evaluate the relationship between clinicopathological information and BI-RADS and TGF-β in breast cancer patients. The value of TGF-β mRNA expression were 18.29±4.66 and 2.00±0.25 in the peripheral blood for patients with breast cancer and breast benign tumors, respectively. The sensitivity of breast ultrasound BI-RADS classification was 0.731, the specificity was 0.915, the area under the curve was 0.885 (P<0.001); the diagnostic sensitivity of TGF-β mRNA expression was 0.683, the specificity was 0.814, the area under the curve was 0.770 (P<0.001); the combined sensitivity of these two was 0.817, the specificity was 0.898, and the area under the curve was 0.927 (P<0.001). In breast cancer patients, high tumor diameter and stage predicted increased BI-RADS grade. Thus, the present study suggests that the diagnostic value of breast ultrasound BI-RADS classification combined with TGF-β detection is superior to the diagnostic value of both, which may be an effective method for the diagnosis of breast cancer.