The value of quantitative parameters of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI in evaluating the biological behavior of soft tissue tumors / 中华放射学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the value of quantitative parameters of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI(DCE-MRI) in evaluating the biological behavior of soft tissue tumors.Methods:The clinical data of 69 patients with soft tissue tumors confirmed by pathology in the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from January 2017 to December 2019 were analyzed retrospectively, including 29 benign tumors and 40 malignant tumors. All patients were examined by routine MRI and DCE-MRI before the operation. The DCE-MRI parameters including volume transfer constant (K trans), rate constant (K ep) and extracellular space volume fraction (V e) were acquired by post-processing software analysis. Microvessel density (MVD) and Ki-67 labeling index (Ki-67 LI) were detected using immunohistoche mical method. Spearman correlation test was used to analyze the correlation between DCE-MRI quantitative parameters and MVD and Ki-67 LI.Independent sample t-test or Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare the difference of parameters between benign and malignant group, and the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were performed to evaluate the diagnostic value. Results:There was positive correlation between K trans, K ep and MVD ( r=0.633, 0.727, P<0.0l), and positive correlation between K trans, K ep and Ki-67 LI ( r=0.557, 0.612, P<0.01). There was no correlation between V e and MVD, Ki-67 LI ( P>0.05). The K trans, K ep, MVD and Ki-67 LI in the malignant group were higher than those in the benign group, and the differences were significant ( P<0.05).There was no significant difference in V e value between malignant group and benign group. When K trans value of 0.169/min was used, the sensitivity, specificity and area under the ROC curve (AUC) for differentiating benign and malignant soft tissue tumors were 84.6%, 85.8% and 0.859, respectively. When K ep value of 0.367/min was used, the sensitivity, specificity and AUC were 92.3%, 83.3% and 0.846, respectively. Conclusion:The DCE-MRI quantitative parameters K trans and K ep can be used to evaluate the biological behavior of soft tissue tumors.