Pretreatment late-phase DCE-MRI predicts outcome in locally advanced cervix cancer

Background: Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) may provide prognostic biomarkers for cervix carcinoma. We have shown previously that the early phase of the signal intensity-versus-time curve (SITC) may have significant prognostic power. The purpose of the present investigation was to explore the prognostic value of the late phase of the SITC.Material and methods: DCE-MRI data of 80 patients (FIGO stage IB-IVA) treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy were examined. Four parameters were calculated from the late-phase SITC: tumor volume with decreasing signal, tumor fraction with decreasing signal, tumor volume with increasing signal (TVIS), and tumor fraction with increasing signal.Results: Multivariate analysis involving clinical parameters and late-phase SITC parameters suggested that TVIS is a strong independent prognostic factor for both disease-free and overall survival. When early-phase SITC parameters were included in the multivariate analysis, the early-phase SITC, but not the late-phase SITC, was found to have independent prognostic value.Conclusion: The late-phase SITC can provide prognostic factors for the outcome of cervix carcinoma, that is, a large tumor volume with increasing late-phase SITCs is associated with poor outcome. However, the prognostic power of the late-phase SITC is not as strong as that of the early-phase SITC.