Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI of gastric cancer: Correlation of the perfusion parameters with pathological prognostic...

To investigate the feasibility of dynamic, contrast-enhanced, magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) for perfusion quantification of gastric cancers, and to correlate the DCE-MRI parameters with the pathological prognostic factors.

This prospective study was approved by our Institutional Review Board. Twenty-seven patients with gastric cancers underwent DCE-MRI using a free-breathing, radial, gradient-echo (GRE) sequence with k-space weighted image contrast (KWIC) reconstruction on a 3T scanner. The DCE-MRI parameters (volume transfer coefficient [K(trans) ], reverse reflux rate constant [Kep ], extracellular extravascular volume fraction [Ve ], and initial area under the gadolinium concentration curve during the first 60 seconds [iAUC]) of gastric cancer and normal wall were measured and compared with each other using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. The relationship between the DCE-MRI parameters of gastric cancer and the pathological prognostic factors were evaluated using the Mann-Whitney test or the Spearman rank correlation test.

DCE-MRIs were of diagnostic quality in 22 patients (81.5%). Ve and iAUC were significantly higher in gastric cancer than in normal gastric wall (P < 0.05). Ve showed significant positive correlation with T-staging of gastric cancers (P < 0.05). K(trans) was significantly correlated with the grades of epidermal growth-factor receptor expression (P < 0.05).

DCE-MRI using a radial GRE with KWIC reconstruction is feasible for quantification of the perfusion dynamics of gastric cancers, and the DCE-MRI parameters of gastric cancers may provide prognostic information.