title: Contrast-enhanced perfusion magnetic resonance imaging for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review.
abstract: This systematic review gives an extensive overview of the current state of perfusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Pubmed and Embase were searched for literature until July 2014 assessing the diagnostic and prognostic performance of perfusion-weighted MRI in HNSCC. Twenty-one diagnostic and 12 prognostic studies were included for qualitative analysis. Four studies used a T2(∗) sequence for dynamic susceptibility (DSC)-MRI, 29 studies used T1-based sequences for dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE)-MRI. Included studies suffered from a great deal of heterogeneity in study methods showing a wide range of diagnostic and prognostic performance. Therefore we could not perform any useful meta-analysis. Perfusion-weighted MRI shows potential in some aspects of diagnosing HNSCC and predicting prognosis. Three studies reported significant correlations between hypoxia and tumor heterogeneity in perfusion parameters (absolute correlation coefficient |ρ|>0.6, P<0.05). Two studies reported synergy between perfusion-weighted MRI and positron emission tomography (PET) parameters. Four studies showed a promising role for response prediction early after the start of chemoradiotherapy. In two studies perfusion-weighted MRI was useful in the detection of residual disease. However more research with uniform study and analysis protocols with larger sample sizes is needed before perfusion-weighted MRI can be used in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: d.noij@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Noij
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: mc.dejong@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Marcus C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: l.mulders@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Lieven G M
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Mulders
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Medical Technology, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: jt.marcus@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Johannes T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Marcus
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: r.bree@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Remco
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Bree
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: c.lavini@amc.uva.nl.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lavini
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: p.degraaf@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Pim
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Graaf
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University Medical Center, De Boelelaan 1117, PO Box 7057, 1007 MB Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: j.castelijns@vumc.nl.
authors.forename: Jonas A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Castelijns
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D003287:Contrast Media; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media
keywords: Contrast-enhanced perfusion MRI; DCE; DSC; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Magnetic resonance imaging; Systematic review