Intravoxel incoherent motion magnetic resonance imaging for diagnosis of cervical cancer and evaluation of response of uterine cervical cancer to radiochemotherapy: A pilot study

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of intravoxel incoherent motion(IVIM) diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) to diagnose cervical cancer and to evaluate the response of uterine cervical cancer to radiochemotherapy(CRT).Methods This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained from all patients. A total of 23 patients with primary cervical cancer who were undergoing CRT and 16 age-matched healthy subjects were prospectively recruited for IVIM(b = 0–800 s/mm2) and standard pelvic MRI. Bi-exponential analysis was performed to derive f(perfusion fraction), D*(pseudo-diffusion coefficient), and D(true molecular diffusion coefficient) in cervical cancer(n = 23) and the normal cervix(n = 16). The apparent diffusion coefficient(standard ADC) was calculated. The independent-samples t-test and paired-samples t-test were used for comparisons.Results Pre-treatment cervical cancer had the lowest standard ADC(1.15 ± 0.13 × 10-3 mm2/s) and D(0.89 ± 0.10 × 10-3 mm2/s) values, and these were significantly different from the normal cervix and posttreatment cervical cancer(P = 0.00). The f(16.67 ± 5.85%) was lowest in pre-treatment cervical cancer and was significantly different from the normal cervix and post-treatment cervical cancer(p = 0.012 and 0.00, respectively). No difference was observed in D*.Conclusion IVIM is potentially promising for differentiating between the normal cervix and cervical cancer because pre-treated cervical cancer has low perfusion and diffusion IVIM characteristics. Further, the standard ADC, D, and f of cervical cancer showed a tendency to normalize after CRT; thus, IVIM may be useful for monitoring the response to CRT in cervical cancer.