title: Relationship between elasticity and collagen fiber content in breast disease: a preliminary report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the differences in elasticity and collagen fiber content between malignant and benign breast lesions, and to study the relationship between shear wave elasticity and the content of collagen fiber in extracellular matrix (ECM).
  
  
  METHODS
  Between May 2012 to May 2013, 106 patients with 116 breast lesions who were referred to our center for ultrasound-guided biopsy of a sonographically apparent breast lesion underwent shear wave elasticity examination. The specimen underwent Van Gieson (VG) dye and Image-Pro Plus 5.1 software was used to quantitatively analyze area of collagen fiber.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Malignant lesions exhibited significantly higher maximum elasticity, mean elasticity, and elasticity ratio between lesions and surrounding parenchyma (140.43±70.16 kPa, 63.11±33.68 kPa, 3.49±1.95) than benign lesions (54.64±48.53 kPa, 34.52±25.23 kPa, 2.25±1.48) (t=5.329, t=4.382, t=4.487, P<0.001). The content of collagen fiber of malignant lesions was significantly higher than that of benign lesions (t=8.437, p=0.000). There was a positive correlation between max elasticity and the content of fiber collagen (r=0.746).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The elasticity of breast lesions has a close correlation with the content of collagen fiber, which might have an important impact on tissue stiffness of breast lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China. Electronic address: wangzhililg@126.com.
authors.forename: Zhi Li
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
authors.forename: Ye
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Ultrasound, Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, 28 Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004548:Elasticity; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000379:methods*; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D061705:Image-Guided Biopsy; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016217:Ultrasonography, Mammary; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003094:Collagen
keywords: Breast; Collagen fiber; Elasticity; Stroma