Evaluation of apparent diffusion coefficient associated with pathological grade of lung carcinoma, before therapy

Abstract

Purpose To investigate the feasibility and utility of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in predicting the tumor cellular density and grades of lung cancers. Materials and Methods Forty-one consecutive patients (26 men and 15 women; mean age, 59.9 years) with histologically proven lung cancers were enrolled in the study and underwent MR examination. ADC values and tumor cellular density of different histological grades were analyzed. The relationship of the ADC with tumor cellular density and grades were also evaluated. Results The ADC values of lung cancer in grade III was significantly lower than those in grade I and grade II (P=0.008 and 0.011, respectively). The cellular density in grade III was significantly higher than other two grades (P=0.029 and 0.022, respectively). ADC value of lung cancer correlated negatively with grades and tumor cellular density (P=0.001 and P=0.001, respectively). According to the ROC analysis, the cutoff value of ADC was 1.175 × 10-3 mm2/s with the optimal sensitivity (88.2%) and specificity (62.5%), respectively. Conclusion ADC measurement of lung cancer was a helpful method to evaluate the pathological grade and tumor cellular density. The quantitative analysis of ADC in conjunction with conventional MR findings could provide more valuable information for the assessment of pulmonary tumor. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2015;42:595-601.