Esophageal cancer T-staging on MRI: A preliminary study using cine and static MR sequences

To evaluate the added value of cine MR in addition to static MRI for T-Staging assessment of esophageal cancer (EC).

This prospective monocentric study included 54 patients (mean age 66.3 ± 9.4 years, 46 men) with histologically proven EC. They underwent MRI on a 3 T-scanner in addition to the standard workup. Acquisitions included static and cine sequences (steady-state-free-precession and real-time True-FISP during water ingestion). Three radiologists independently assessed T-staging and diagnosis confidence by reviewing (1) static sequences (S-MRI) and (2) adding cine sequences (SC-MRI). Inter-reader agreement was performed. MRI T-staging was correlated to reference standard T-staging (histopathology or consensus on endoscopic ultrasonography and imaging findings) and to clinical outcome by log-rank test.

Both S-MRI and SC-MRI T-staging showed a significant correlation with reference T-staging (rs = 0.667, P < 0.001). SC-MRI showed a slightly better performance in distinguishing T1-T3 from T4 with a sensitivity, specificity and AUC of 76.5% (95% CI: 50.1-93.2), 83.8% (68-93.8) and 0.801 (0.681-0.921) vs 70.6% (44-89.7), 83% (68-93.8) and 0.772 (0.645-0.899) for S-MRI. Compared to S-MRI, SC-MRI increased inter-reader agreement for T4a and T4b (κ = 0.403 and 0.498) and T-staging confidence.

MRI is accurate for T-staging of EC. The addition of cine sequences allows better differentiation between T1-T3 and T4 tumors with increased diagnostic confidence and inter-reader agreement.