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Extracranial Soft-Tissue Tumors: Repeatability of Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Estimates from Diffusion-weighted MR
Jessica M Winfield1, Nina Tunariu1, Mihaela Rata1
1From the Cancer Research UK Cancer Imaging Centre, Division of Radiotherapy and Imaging (J.M.W., N.T., M.R., K.M., N.P.J., M.G., M.D.B., D.J.C., N.M.d.S., S.J.D., D.M.K., M.O.L., C.M., M.R.O.) and Division of Clinical Studies (J.S.d.B., T.A.Y.), the Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden Hospital, London, England; MRI Unit (J.M.W., N.T., M.R., K.M., N.P.J., M.G., M.D.B., D.J.C., N.M.d.S., S.J.D., D.M.K., M.O.L., C.M., M.R.O.) and Drug Development Unit (J.S.d.B., T.A.Y.), the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Downs Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5PT, England.
Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) estimates in extracranial soft tissues show excellent repeatability across diverse imaging protocols and patient groups. This robust magnetic resonance imaging metric is reliable for various tumor sizes and healthy organs.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Medical Imaging
- Oncology
Background:
- Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) is crucial for characterizing extracranial soft tissues.
- Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values provide quantitative insights into tissue microstructure.
- Assessing the repeatability of ADC estimates is vital for clinical applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the consistency of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measurements in extracranial soft tissues.
- To determine repeatability across varied imaging protocols and patient populations.
- To assess the influence of tumor size and imaging parameters on ADC repeatability.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of 141 tumors and healthy organs from 10 prospective studies (2006-2016).
- Repeated DW-MRI scans were performed to assess median and mean ADC estimates.
- Statistical tests (Levene, Pearson correlation) were used to analyze repeatability and influencing factors.
Main Results:
- Aggregated coefficient of variation (CoV) for ADC was 4.1%, with study-specific ranges from 1.7% to 6.5%.
- No significant correlation was found between CoV and study start year or size.
- Repeatability varied significantly with tumor size, showing the best consistency (2.6% CoV) in large tumors.
Conclusions:
- Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) is a robust and highly repeatable imaging metric for extracranial soft tissues.
- ADC repeatability is consistent across diverse tumor sites, sizes, patient demographics, and imaging variations.
- These findings support the reliable use of ADC in clinical practice for soft tissue assessment.
