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Correlation of apparent diffusion coefficient measured by diffusion-weighted MRI and clinicopathologic features in
Koichi Hayano1, Fumihiko Miura, Hodaka Amano
1Department of Surgery, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. k-hayano@hospital.chiba-u.jp
Background/Purpose:
The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) in patients with pancreatic cancer by comparing the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value with clinicopathologic features.
Methods:
Twenty-two consecutive patients (12 men, 10 women; mean age 64.4 years) with pancreatic cancer underwent DWI before surgery. We retrospectively investigated the correlations between tumor ADC value and clinicopathologic features.
Results:
Apparent diffusion coefficient value was significantly lower for pancreatic cancer than for noncancerous tissue (P < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic analysis yielded an optimal ADC cutoff value of 1.21 × 10(-3) mm(2)/s to distinguish pancreatic cancer from noncancerous tissue. There was a significant negative correlation between ADC value and tumor size (r = -0.59, P = 0.004) and between ADC value and number of metastatic lymph nodes (r = -0.56, P = 0.007). Tumors with low ADC value had a significant tendency to show high portal venous system invasion (P = 0.02) and extrapancreatic nerve plexus invasion (P = 0.01).
Conclusions:
Apparent diffusion coefficient value appears to be a promising parameter for detecting pancreatic cancer and evaluating the degree of malignancy of pancreatic cancer.
