Prostate and metastasis diffusion volume based on apparent diffusion coefficient as a prognostic factor in...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Radiology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Metastatic hormone-naïve prostate cancer (mHNPC) requires reliable imaging biomarkers for prognosis.
• Whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging (WB-DWI) offers potential for assessing tumor characteristics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate WB-DWI's utility as an imaging biomarker in mHNPC.
• To assess the association between tumor diffusion volume (DV) and castration-resistant free survival (CFS).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of WB-DWI data from 62 mHNPC patients.
• Evaluation of prostate (pDV) and metastatic (mDV) diffusion volumes based on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values.
• Association analysis with CFS and multivariate analysis.

Main Results:

• Metastatic diffusion volume (mDV) significantly predicted CFS (HR: 2.75, p=0.022).
• mDV with lower ADC values (0.4-1.0 × 10^-3 mm²/s) showed a stronger association with CFS.
• On multivariate analysis, mDV (0.4-1.0 × 10^-3 mm²/s) and Gleason grade group were significant predictors of CFS.

Conclusions:

• Metastatic diffusion volume (mDV) derived from WB-DWI is a useful imaging biomarker for predicting CFS in mHNPC patients.
• mDV, especially when considering ADC values, may offer superior prognostic value compared to prostate diffusion volume (pDV).