Factors influencing the performance of a diagnostic model including contrast-enhanced ultrasound in 1023 breast lesions: comparison with histopathology

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and is also the leading cause of cancer death in the vast majority of countries among women. Worldwide, there were about 2.1 million newly diagnosed female breast cancer cases in 2018, accounting for almost 1 in 4 cancer cases (1). The clinical management of patients with breast lesions is complex. Early diagnosis of breast lesions allows for earlier treatment and better prognosis (2). Mammography and ultrasonography are proven methods for breast cancer screening and diagnosis (3). For Asian women, who characteristically have relatively thin and higher-density breasts, it must be taken into account that the accuracy of mammography images interpretation is reduced in this patient population (3,4)