Intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging of resectable oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma: association with tumour stage.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) derived parameters can be associated with tumour stage of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

METHODS

60 patients with resectable oesophageal SCC and 20 healthy individuals underwent oesophageal DWI-using multi b-values with a 3.0 T MR system. Pure diffusion coefficient (D), perfusion-related incoherent microcirculation (D*), microvascular volume fraction (f) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were measured on DWI. Statistical analyses were performed to determine associations of DWI-derived parameters with T-stage.

RESULTS

ADC (r = -0.842), D (r = -0.729), D* (r = -0.301) and f (r = -0.817) were negatively correlated with T-stage of oesophageal SCC (all p < 0.01), and the multinominal regression analyses revealed that IVIM-derived parameters including D (p = 0.038; odds ratio <1) and f (p < 0.001; odds ratio <1) were associated with T-stage. The Mann-Whitney U tests with Bonferroni correction showed that D, f and ADC could discriminate oesophageal SCC, especially T1-staged tumour, from normal oesophagus (all p < 0.05) while D* could not (p > 0.05). By receiver operating characteristic analyses, f could be the best indicator for detecting oesophageal SCC with an area under receiver operating characteristic (AUC) of 0.964, especially T1-staged cancer with an AUC of 0.984, and for discriminating T1-stages between T0-1 and T2-3 with an AUC of 0.957, and between T0-2 and T3 with an AUC of 0.945 in comparison with any other DWI-derived parameter.

CONCLUSIONS

IVIM derived parameters can be associated with T-stage of oesophageal SCC. Advances in knowledge (1) IVIM-derived parameters are negatively correlated with stage of oesophageal SCC. (2) Among IVIM-derived parameters, microvascular volume fraction helps detect and stage oesophageal SCC.