Can MRI Predict Local Control Rate of Uterine Cervical Cancer Immediately after Radiation Therapy?

• Published in: Magnetic Resonance in Medical Sciences 2010, Vol.9(3), pp.141-148
• Main Authors: SAIDA, Tsukasa, TANAKA, Yumiko OISHI, OHARA, Kiyoshi, OKI, Akinori, SATO, Toyomi, YOSHIKAWA, Hiroyuki, MINAMI, Manabu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cervical cancer; Contrast Media; Female; Humans; local control; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; prognosis; radiation therapy; Radiotherapy Dosage; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tumor Burden; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - pathology; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - radiotherapy
• ISSN: 1347-3182; 1880-2206; 1880-2206
• DOI: 10.2463/mrms.9.141

Purpose: To evaluate the utility of measuring the volumes of areas of high signal intensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images immediately after irradiation for predicting the local control rate of uterine cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: From our departmental database, we identified 109 patients with cervical cancer who underwent MR imaging before irradiation and just before or just after completion of radiation therapy from 1994 to 2007. We included 46 of the 109 patients in this study, 5 patients with local recurrence and 41 patients who were free of disease for more than 2 years. Fifteen received radiation therapy alone, and 28 patients received concurrent chemoradiation therapy. We measured the volumes of areas of high signal intensity involving the uterine cervix on T2-weighted MR images before radiation therapy and just before or just after its completion. We measured the 3 orthogonal diameters to calculate the volume as an ellipsoid and evaluated proportional tumor volume and the rate of reduction. We analyzed statistics with Student's t-test. Results: In patients with local recurrence, the mean volume of the areas of high signal intensity on T2-weighted MR images just before completion of irradiation therapy or just after was 19.70 cm3, which was significantly larger than that in patients without recurrence (1.77 cm3, P