SynthesisBMC cancer2026
Ultrasound for predicting pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC cancer, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundUltrasound (US) can be used as a reliable and early predictor of pathological response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) in breast cancer (BC). However, existing studies have reported inconsistent results, which highlights the need for a thorough evaluation of evidence.
methodsPubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, and ClinicalTrials.gov databases were searched to screen relevant studies on the use of US in predicting pathological response to NAC in patients with BC from inception to October 2025. The pooled area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity were calculated through Stata 14.0.
resultsThis meta-analysis enrolled 72 studies involving 8439 patients with BC who underwent NAC. Pooled analysis indicated that contrast-enhanced US exhibited the highest performance, with an AUC of 0.90 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87-0.93), sensitivity of 87%, and specificity of 79%. Color Doppler US, automated breast volume scanner, and shear-wave elastography achieved AUCs of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.83-0.89), 0.86 (95% CI: 0.83-0.89), and 0.86 (95% CI: 0.82-0.89), respectively. In addition, strain elastography and grayscale US attained AUCs of 0.85 (95% CI: 0.82-0.88) and 0.77 (95% CI: 0.73-0.81), respectively.
conclusionUS, especially contrast-enhanced US, is helpful in predicting pathological response to NAC in patients with BC.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.