Endometrial Cancer: Combined MR Volumetry and Diffusion-weighted Imaging for Assessment of Myometrial and Lymphovascular Invasion and Tumor Grade.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate magnetic resonance (MR) volumetry of endometrial tumors and its association with deep myometrial invasion, tumor grade, and lymphovascular invasion and to assess the value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histographic analysis of the whole tumor volume for prediction of tumor grade and lymphovascular invasion.


METHODS
The institutional review board approved this retrospective study; patient consent was not required. Between May 2010 and May 2012, 70 women (mean age, 64 years; range, 24-91 years) with endometrial cancer underwent preoperative MR imaging, including axial oblique and sagittal T2-weighted, dynamic contrast material-enhanced, and diffusion-weighted imaging. Volumetry of the tumor and uterus was performed during the six sequences, with manual tracing of each section, and the tumor volume ratio (TVR) was calculated. ADC histograms were generated from pixel ADCs from the whole tumor volume. The threshold of TVR associated with myometrial invasion was assessed by using receiver operating characteristic curves. An independent sample Mann Whitney U test was used to compare differences in ADCs, skewness, and kurtosis between tumor grade and the presence of lymphovascular invasion.


RESULTS
No significant difference in tumor volume and TVR was found among the six MR imaging sequences (P = .95 and .86, respectively). A TVR greater than or equal to 25% allowed prediction of deep myometrial invasion with sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 93% (area under the curve, 0.96; 95% confidence interval: 0.86, 0.99) at axial oblique diffusion-weighted imaging. A TVR of greater than or equal to 25% was associated with grade 3 tumors (P = .0007) and with lymphovascular invasion (P < .0001). There was no significant difference in the ADCs between grades 1 and 2 tumors (P > .05). The minimum, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentile ADCs were significantly lower in grade 3 tumors than in grades 1 and 2 tumors (P < .02).


CONCLUSIONS
The combination of whole tumor volume and ADC can be used for prediction of tumor grade, lymphovascular invasion, and depth of myometrial invasion.
From the Departments of Imaging (S.N., B.G.) and Statistics, UMR 1046 (N.M.), CHU Montpellier, St Eloi Hospital, 80 Avenue Augustin Fliche, Montpellier 34295, France; Departments of Radiology (C.R., S.S.A., H.A.) and Pathology (J.A.), McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada; and Department of Gynecologic Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (E.S.).
Stephanie
S
Nougaret
From the Departments of Imaging (S.N., B.G.) and Statistics, UMR 1046 (N.M.), CHU Montpellier, St Eloi Hospital, 80 Avenue Augustin Fliche, Montpellier 34295, France; Departments of Radiology (C.R., S.S.A., H.A.) and Pathology (J.A.), McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada; and Department of Gynecologic Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (E.S.).
Caroline
C
Reinhold
From the Departments of Imaging (S.N., B.G.) and Statistics, UMR 1046 (N.M.), CHU Montpellier, St Eloi Hospital, 80 Avenue Augustin Fliche, Montpellier 34295, France; Departments of Radiology (C.R., S.S.A., H.A.) and Pathology (J.A.), McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada; and Department of Gynecologic Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (E.S.).
Shaza S
SS
Alsharif
From the Departments of Imaging (S.N., B.G.) and Statistics, UMR 1046 (N.M.), CHU Montpellier, St Eloi Hospital, 80 Avenue Augustin Fliche, Montpellier 34295, France; Departments of Radiology (C.R., S.S.A., H.A.) and Pathology (J.A.), McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada; and Department of Gynecologic Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (E.S.).
Helen
H
Addley
From the Departments of Imaging (S.N., B.G.) and Statistics, UMR 1046 (N.M.), CHU Montpellier, St Eloi Hospital, 80 Avenue Augustin Fliche, Montpellier 34295, France; Departments of Radiology (C.R., S.S.A., H.A.) and Pathology (J.A.), McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada; and Department of Gynecologic Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (E.S.).
Jocelyne
J
Arceneau
From the Departments of Imaging (S.N., B.G.) and Statistics, UMR 1046 (N.M.), CHU Montpellier, St Eloi Hospital, 80 Avenue Augustin Fliche, Montpellier 34295, France; Departments of Radiology (C.R., S.S.A., H.A.) and Pathology (J.A.), McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada; and Department of Gynecologic Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (E.S.).
Nicolas
N
Molinari
From the Departments of Imaging (S.N., B.G.) and Statistics, UMR 1046 (N.M.), CHU Montpellier, St Eloi Hospital, 80 Avenue Augustin Fliche, Montpellier 34295, France; Departments of Radiology (C.R., S.S.A., H.A.) and Pathology (J.A.), McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada; and Department of Gynecologic Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (E.S.).
Boris
B
Guiu
From the Departments of Imaging (S.N., B.G.) and Statistics, UMR 1046 (N.M.), CHU Montpellier, St Eloi Hospital, 80 Avenue Augustin Fliche, Montpellier 34295, France; Departments of Radiology (C.R., S.S.A., H.A.) and Pathology (J.A.), McGill University Health Center, Montreal, QC, Canada; and Department of Gynecologic Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY (E.S.).
Evis
E
Sala
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D009215:Myometrium / Q000473:pathology; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D047368:Tumor Burden; D019043:Vascular Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000556:secondary; D055815:Young Adult