title: Diagnostic possibility of diffusion tensor imaging for the evaluation of myometrial invasion in endometrial cancer: an ex vivo study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) for evaluating the myometrial invasion of uterine endometrial cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twelve specimens of uterine endometrial cancer were obtained. The depth of myometrial invasion was classified as stage E (limited to the endometrium; n = 4), stage S (superficial invasion of less than 50% of the myometrium; n = 5), or stage D (deep invasion of greater than 50% of the myometrium; n = 3). The specimens were fixed in 10% formalin and stored at 4°C before imaging. At 15 hours after fixation, MRI was performed using a 4.7-T experimental imager/spectrometer system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found a high fractional anisotropy (FA) value zone (anisotropic zone) at the myometrium adjacent to the tumor on FA maps of histopathological stage S and stage D cancers, whereas the anisotropic zone did not exist in stage E cancers. Histopathological analysis showed that compared to the other regions, the anisotropic zone had tightly packed stromal tissue. The disruption of the anisotropic zone was consistent with myometrial invasion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our ex vivo study suggests that DTI might be a useful tool for the diagnosis of myometrial invasion of uterine endometrial cancer ex vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Comprehensive Reproductive Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Mikayo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toba
authors.forename: Naoyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Miyasaka
authors.forename: Urara
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Yoshinobu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Eishi
authors.forename: Toshiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kubota
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D019042:Muscle Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D009215:Myometrium / Q000473:pathology*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity