Prospects of perfusion contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CE-US) in diagnosing axillary lymph node metastases in breast cancer: a comparison with lymphatic CE-US

Accurate diagnosis of lymph node (LN) metastasis is vital for prognosis and treatment in patients with breast cancer. Imaging 1modalities such as ultrasound (US), MRI, CT, and 18F-FDG PET/CT are used for preoperative assessment. While conventional US is commonly recommended due to its resolution and sensitivity, it has limitations such as operator subjectivity and difficulty detecting small metastases. This review shows the microanatomy of axillary LNs to enhance accurate diagnosis and the characteristics of contrast-enhanced US (CE-US), which utilizes intravascular microbubble contrast agents, making it ideal for vascular imaging. A significant focus of this review is on distinguishing between two types of CE-US techniques for axillary LN evaluation: perfusion CE-US and lymphatic CE-US. Perfusion CE-US is used to assess LN metastasis via transvenous contrast agent administration, while lymphatic CE-US is used to identify sentinel LNs and diagnose LN metastasis through percutaneous contrast agent administration. This review also highlights the need for future research to clarify the distinction between studies involving “apparently enlarged LNs” and “clinical node-negative” cases in perfusion CE-US research. Such research standardization is essential to ensure accurate diagnostic performance in various clinical studies. Future studies should aim to standardize CE-US methods for improved LN metastasis diagnosis, not only in breast cancer but also across various malignancies.