Diffusion-weighted imaging of prostate cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to assess whether T2-weighted (T2W) imaging with diffusion-weighted (DW) imaging could improve prostate cancer detection as compared with T2W imaging alone.


METHODS
The subjects consisted of 37 patients with prostate cancer and 23 without cancer undergoing magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Using a 1.5-T superconducting magnet, all patients underwent T2W and DW imaging with parallel imaging. Images were independently reviewed by 3 readers to determine the detectability of prostate cancer. The detectability of T2W imaging without and with DW imaging was assessed by means of receiver operating characteristic analysis.


RESULTS
Mean areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for T2W imaging alone and for T2W imaging with DW imaging were 0.87 and 0.93, respectively. The receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that the addition of DW imaging to conventional T2W imaging significantly improved tumor detection (P = 0.0468) compared with T2W imaging alone.


CONCLUSIONS
The addition of DW imaging to conventional T2W imaging provides better detection of prostate cancer.
Shimofusa
Ryota
R
Department of Radiology, Chiba University Hospital, Chiba, Japan. mofu@indigo.plala.or.jp
Fujimoto
Hajime
H
Akamata
Hajime
H
Motoori
Ken
K
Yamamoto
Seiji
S
Ueda
Takuya
T
Ito
Hisao
H
D016477:Artifacts; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D017352:Echo-Planar Imaging; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity