3534 Original Article Tumor elastography and its association with cell-free tumor DNA in the plasma of breast tumor patients: a pilot study Yi Hao1#, Wei Yang2#, Wenyi Zheng2,3#, Xiaona Chen3,4, Hui Wang1,5, Liang Zhao1,5, Jinfeng Xu6,7, Xia Guo4 1Department of Ultrasound, South China Hospital of Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China; 2Department of Ultrasound, Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China; 3The Third School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China; 4Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Viral Oncology, Center for Clinical Research and Innovation (CCRI), Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, China; 5Department of Ultrasound, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, China; 6Department of Ultrasound, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, Shenzhen, China; 7The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen, China #These authors contributed equally to this work. Correspondence to: Xia Guo. Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Viral Oncology, Center for Clinical Research and Innovation (CCRI), Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen 518000, China. Email:
[email protected]; Jinfeng Xu. Department of Ultrasound, Shenzhen People’s Hospital (The Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, Shenzhen 518020, China; The First Affiliated Hospital, Southern University of Science and Technology), Shenzhen 518020, China. Email:
[email protected]. Background: Breast tumor stiffness, which can be objectively and noninvasively evaluated by ultrasound elastography (UE), has been useful for the differentiation of benign and malignant breast lesions and the prediction of clinical outcomes. Liquid biopsy analyses, including cell-free tumor DNA (ctDNA), exhibit great potential for personalized treatment. This study aimed to investigate the correlations between the UE and ctDNA for early breast cancer diagnosis.