Cervical cancer apparent diffusion coefficient values during external beam radiotherapy

• Published in: Physics and imaging in radiation oncology 2019-01, Vol.9, p.77-82
• Main Authors: de Boer, Peter, Mandija, Stefano, Werensteijn-Honingh, Anita M., van den Berg, Cornelis A.T., de Leeuw, Astrid A.C., Jürgenliemk-Schulz, Ina M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: ADC map; Cervical cancer; MRI; Original
• ISSN: 2405-6316; 2405-6316
• DOI: 10.1016/j.phro.2019.03.001

Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) reflects micro-enviromental changes and therefore might be useful in predicting recurrence prior to brachytherapy. The purpose of this study is to evaluate change in ADC of the primary tumour and pathologic lymph nodes during treatment and to correlate this with clinical outcome. Twenty patients were included who received chemoradiation for locally advanced cervical cancer between July 2016 and November 2017. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) prior to treatment, and three MRIs in weeks 1/2, 3 and 4 of treatment, including T2 and diffusion weighted imaging (b-values 0, 200, 800 s/mm2) for determining an ADC-map. Primary tumour was delineated on T2 and ADC-map and pathologic lymph nodes were delineated only on ADC-map. At time of analysis median follow-up was 15 (range 7–22) months. From MRI one to four, primary tumour on ADC-map showed a significant signal increase of 0.94 (range 0.74–1.46) × 10−3 mm2/s to 1.13 (0.98–1.49) × 10−3 mm2/s (p