Decreased Tissue Sodium Concentration in Suspected Prostate Cancer Detected by Internal-Reference ²³Na MRI: A...

Area of Science:

• Radiology
• Oncology
• Biomedical Imaging

Background:

• Prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis and risk stratification rely on imaging and biopsy.
• Quantitative imaging biomarkers are needed to improve PCa characterization.
• Sodium Magnetic Resonance (23Na MR) imaging offers potential for quantitative tissue analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate 23Na MR imaging for prostate cancer.
• To quantify tissue sodium concentration (TSC) using internal references.
• To assess the potential of TSC as a biomarker for PCa.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study of 46 patients with suspected PCa.
• Acquisition of 3D radial density-adapted 23Na MR sequences at 3T.
• Quantification of TSC using femoral blood vessels as internal references.

Main Results:

• Stable TSC quantification with femoral blood vessel references (mean difference 3.3 ± 2.2 mM).
• Significantly higher TSC in peripheral zone (40.7 ± 6.0 mM) vs. transition zone (37.5 ± 5.7 mM).
• Significantly lower TSC in PCa (32.2 ± 5.5 mM) compared to healthy tissue (36.1 ± 3.9 mM, p=0.018).

Conclusions:

• Feasible and reliable TSC quantification of prostate tissue using internal references.
• Significantly decreased TSC in prostate cancer suggests its utility as a quantitative imaging biomarker.
• TSC may enhance PCa characterization and risk stratification.