ObjectiveTo assess the diagnosis ability of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS)between qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis in breast masses.Methods The contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) imagings of 73 cases breast masses (41malignant cases,32 benign cases) were analysed retrospectively,including qualitative indexes(obtained by eyes-watching method) and quantitative indexes (obtained by time-intensity curve).The relationship between these CEUS signs and pathology were evaluated by single variety and multiple variety analysis.The two logistic models on the basis of CEUS signs were obtained.According to the logistic regression results to create new variants pre-1 and pre-2,the two receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created to assess the performance of the logistic models.ResultsBy qualitative analysis,the lesion enhanced features,lesion diameter expanding or not and the grades of lesion enhancement at the peak time entered the logistic regression.And the prediction accuracy to differential diagnosis the breast masses was 91.8％ and the area under the ROC was 91.3％.However,by quantitative analysis,only the relative peak intensity entered the regression,the prediction accuracy was 61.5 ％ and the area under the ROC was 75.7 ％.According to Z test,the areas difference under the two ROCs had statistically significant ( P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions To differential diagnosis the breast masses by CEUS,the qualitative indexes have more useful than the quantitative indexes.

Abnormal expression of annexin A2 contributes to metastasis and infiltration of cancer cells.To elucidate the cause of abnormal expression of annexin A2,Western blotting,immunoproteomics and immunohistochemical staining were performed to analyze differentially ubiquitinated proteins between fresh breast cancer tissue and its adjacent normal breast tissue from five female volunteers.We detected an ubiquitinated protein that was up-regulated in the cancer tissue,which was further identified as annexin A2 by mass spectrometry.These results suggest that abnormal ubiquitination and/or degradation of annexin A2 may lead to presence of annexin A2 at high level,which may further promote metastasis and infiltration of the breast cancer cells.

Objective To explore the changes and significane of USP20 and HIF-α expression in breast cancer.Methods Following transfection of shRNA-USP20 lentivirus into breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells,the gene and protein expression levels of USP20 were detected using fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western Blot.Subsequently,the overexpression of USP20 was observed to determine its effect on HIF-α expression.Similarly,siRNA-USP20 was used to knock down USP20 in breast cancer MDA-MB-231 cells,followed by detection of gene and protein expression levels using fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western Blot.The subsequent changes in HIF-α expression were then examined.Rusults The positive expression rates of USP20 and HIF-α in breast cancer tissues were 69.6%and 46.83%,respectively,while they were negatively expressed in the adjacent normal tissues,with statistically significant differences(P＜0.01).The positive expressions of USP20 and HIF-α were predomi-nantly observed in the cytoplasm of breast cancer tissue,with a smaller amount present in the nucleus.There was a significant positive correlation between USP20 and HIF-α in breast cancer.Following transfection of shRNA-USP20 lentivirus into MDA-MB-231 cells,both the protein and gene expression levels of USP20 significantly increased(P＜0.01).Over-expression of USP20 did not affect HIF-α mRNA levels but led to a significant increase in HIF-α protein expression(P＜0.01).Conversely,siRNA-USP20 interference resulted in a significant decrease in both the protein and gene expression levels of USP20(P＜0.01),without affecting HIF-α mRNA levels;however,it caused a notable reduction in HIF-α protein expression(P＜0.01).Conclusion The expression of USP20 exhib-ited a significant positive correlation with HIF-α in breast cancer.Overexpression of USP20 led to a substantial increase in HIF-α protein expression,while knock-down of the USP20 gene resulted in a significant decrease in HIF-α protein levels.Therefore,it can be inferred that USP20 may exert its influence on the development of breast cancer through modulation of HIF-α expression,thereby providing crucial experimental evidence for clinical treat-ment,prognosis,and further investigations.