Study on the correlation between different expression levels of Ki-67 and ultrasonic image characteristics in primary breast lymphoma

Objective: To investigate the correlation between different expression levels of Ki-67 and ultrasonographic features in primary breast lymphoma (PBL), in order to guide clinical prediction of malignant degree and prognosis of PBL by noninvasive ultrasonography. Methods: The ultrasonographic characteristics of PBL proved by pathology were retrospectively summarized and analyzed, and the general clinical data, pathological types and the expression level of Ki-67 in PBL were summarized, and the correlation between the ultrasonographic characteristics and different expression levels of Ki-67 was analyzed. Results: In this study, The main ultrasonic manifestations of PBL were as follows: the lesions were mostly located in the left breast, large size, irregular morphology, uneven echo, no burr sign, posterior echo enhancement effect, blood flow signal, parallel growth, and no calcification. All the cases had different levels of Ki-67 expression. Among them, in the high expression group (Ki-67 >= 80%), 3 cases had burr sign and 13 cases had clear boundary, in the low expression group (Ki-67 < 80%), 12 cases had burr sign and 4 cases had clear boundary, and the difference between the two groups was statistically significant (P < 0.05). In the rest, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Ki-67 was expressed in PBL to varying degrees, and the ultrasound images of PBL in the high expression group mostly showed no "burr sign" and "clear boundary"; on the contrary, the ultrasound images of PBL in the low expression group often showed "burr sign" and "unclear boundary". Therefore, the ultrasonic images could predict the expression level of Ki-67, the malignant degree of PBL and its prognosis.