In Vivo Assessment of Prostate Cancer Aggressiveness Using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging at 3 T with an Endorectal Coil
EU
2011
1074--1080
T. Kobus, T. Hambrock, C. de Hulsbergen-van Kaa, A. Wright, J. Barentsz, A. Heerschap and T. Scheenen
BACKGROUND: One of the most important clinical challenges in prostate cancer (PCa) management is an in vivo assessment of cancer aggressiveness. OBJECTIVE: To validate the performance of magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) of the prostate at 3 T for the purpose of assessing tumour aggressiveness based on the ratio of choline plus creatine to citrate (Cho+Cr/Cit) and of choline to creatine (Cho/Cr), using the Gleason score of the radical prostatectomy (RP) specimen as the gold standard. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A total of 43 biopsy-proven PCa patients with 53 clinically relevant tumour foci were retrospectively included in this study. MEASUREMENTS: Patients underwent MR imaging and MRSI examination followed by RP. From MRSI, all spectroscopy voxels containing tumour were selected by a radiologist guided by the prostatectomy histopathology map only. For each tumour, two spectroscopists determined the maximum Cho+Cr/Cit, Cho/Cr, and malignancy rating using a standardised threshold approach, incorporating both metabolic ratios. The maximum Cho+Cr/Cit, Cho/Cr, and malignancy ratings showed a relation to tumour aggressiveness and so were used to differentiate among tumour aggressiveness classes. RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS: The maximum Cho+Cr/Cit ratio, maximum Cho/Cr ratio, and malignancy rating of a standardised threshold approach separated low-grade from higher-grade tumours, with areas under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of 0.70, 0.74, and 0.78, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: MRSI offers possibilities for an in vivo, noninvasive assessment of PCa aggressiveness. The combination of the different metabolite ratios was used with promising results for discrimination among different aggressiveness classes.