Dual Energy Spectral CT Imaging for Colorectal Cancer Grading: A Preliminary Study

To assess the diagnostic value of dual energy spectral CT imaging for colorectal cancer grading using the quantitative iodine density measurements in both arterial phase (AP) and venous phase (VP).

81 colorectal cancer patients were divided into two groups based on their pathological findings: a low grade group including well (n = 13) and moderately differentiated cancer (n = 24), and a high grade group including poorly differentiated (n = 42) and signet ring cell cancer (n = 2). Iodine density (ID) in the lesions was derived from the iodine-based material decomposition (MD) image and normalized to that in the psoas muscle to obtain normalized iodine density (NID). The difference in ID and NID between AP and VP was calculated.

The ID and NID values of the low grade cancer group were, 14.65 ± 3.38 mg/mL and 1.70 ± 0.33 in AP, and 21.90 ± 3.11 mg/mL and 2.05 ± 0.32 in VP, respectively. The ID and NID values for the high grade cancer group were 20.63 ± 3.72 mg/mL and 2.95 ± 0.72 in AP, and 26.27 ± 3.10mg/mL and 3.51 ± 1.12 in VP, respectively. There was significant difference for ID and NID between the low grade and high grade cancer groups in both AP and VP (all p<0.001). ROC analysis indicated that NID of 1.92 in AP provided 70.3% sensitivity and 97.7% specificity in differentiating low grade cancer from high grade cancer.

The quantitative measurement of iodine density in AP and VP can provide useful information to differentiate low grade colorectal cancer from high grade colorectal cancer with NID in AP providing the greatest diagnostic value.