Pseudoglandular Formation in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Determines Apparent Diffusion Coefficient in Diffusion-Weighted MRI

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To determine the impact of pseudoglandular formation on apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and to validate the results using histopathological grades. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed 182 HCCs surgically resected from 169 consecutive patients. Each type of tumor pseudoglandular formation was categorized into “non-,” “mixed-,” or “pure-,” based on official histopathology reports. The ADC for each tumor was independently measured, using the largest region of interest on the ADC map. Data were assessed using the analysis of variance test, with Bonferroni correction for post hoc analysis to stratify the relationship of ADCs with pseudoglandular formation, followed by subgroup analysis according to the histopathological tumor grades. RESULTS: The mean ADC was significantly higher in pure pseudoglandular lesions (n = 5, 1.29 ± 0.08 × 10−3 mm2/s) than in non-pseudoglandular lesions (n = 132, 1.08 ± 0.17 × 10−3 mm2/s; P = 0.003) or mixed-pseudoglandular lesions (n = 45, 1.16 ± 0.24 × 10−3 mm2/s; P = 0.034). The ADC values and pseudoglandular formation were significantly correlated in moderately differentiated HCCs (n = 103; r = 0.307, P = 0.007), while well- (n = 19) and poorly-differentiated HCCs (n = 60) did not show significant correlation (r = 0.105 and 0.068, respectively; P = 0.600 and 0.685, respectively). CONCLUSION: The degree of pseudoglandular formation could be one of the determinants of ADC in DWI of HCCs-especially moderately differentiated HCCs-while its influence does not appear to be significant in well- or poorly differentiated HCCs.