Potential of (1)H MR spectroscopic imaging to segregate patients who are likely to show malignancy of the peripheral zone of the prostate on biopsy.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the potential of MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) to segregate patients who, upon prostate biopsy, are more likely to show a malignancy in the peripheral zone (PZ) of the prostate gland.


METHODS
Before biopsy, MRSI was carried in 123 men with elevated prostate specific antigen level or an abnormal digital rectal examination. After the MRSI investigation, all patients underwent systematic transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy and were categorized using standard random number tables into the following two groups: (i) Group I, a 62 member training set; and (ii) Group II, a 61-member test set. The cutoff value for the [citrate/(choline+creatine)] ratio for patients in the training set was obtained using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve method. This value was then applied to the test set of patients as well.


RESULTS
The ROC method gave a cutoff value of 1.2 for the [Citrate/(Choline+Creatine)] ratio. When applied as a malignancy-predictor to the test group of patients (Group II), the ROC method generated the following results: sensitivity, 77%; specificity, 83%; negative predictive value, 93%; positive predictive value, 55% and accuracy, 82%.


CONCLUSIONS
The results indicate that patients who are deemed as malignancy-positive in the PZ by MRSI using the ROC cutoff may be subjected to prostate biopsy to confirm the diagnosis of cancer.
Department of NMR & MRI Facility, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, India.
Virendra
V
Kumar
Naranamangalam R
NR
Jagannathan
Rajeev
R
Kumar
Rishi
R
Nayyar
Sanjay
S
Thulkar
Siddhartha D
SD
Gupta
Ashok K
AK
Hemal
Narmada P
NP
Gupta
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D006801:Humans; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011467:Prostate / Q000473:pathology*; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional