title: Squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity and oropharynx: what does the apparent diffusion coefficient tell us about its histology?
abstract: Background Diffusion-weighted imaging obtained with magnetic resonance (DW-MRI) is a non-invasive imaging tool potentially able to provide information about microstructural tumor characteristics. Purpose To prospectively analyze the correlation between the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and clinical-histologic characteristics of squamous cell carcinoma (SCCA) of the oral cavity and oropharynx. Material and Methods Sixty-seven patients with untreated, histologically proven SCCA of the oral cavity and oropharynx underwent conventional and diffusion-weighted (b-values 0, 50, 250, 500, and 900 s/mm2) MRI. Tumor ADC was calculated from regions of interest drawn manually on the highest b-value images using ImageJ (ImageJ, NIH) and fsl (fsl 4, University of Oxford) image processing packages. ADC was calculated in two ways: standard ADC using all b-values; and ADCHighusing only b-values ≥ 250 s/mm2. We assessed the correlations between both ADC and ADCHighand the clinical-histological characteristics of SCCA. Results Fifty-two patients (36 men, 16 women; mean age, 55 ± 13 years) were suitable for ADC calculation. Mean ADC was 1136.0 ± 108.5 × 10-6mm2/s. Mean tumor ADCHighwas 991.2 ± 152.1 × 10-6mm2/s. Mean tumor size was 32.3 ± 13.4 mm (range, 14.0-69.0 mm). We observed no correlation of either ADC or ADCHighvalues with any of the clinical-histological tumor characteristics. Undifferentiated tumors (G3) showed lower apparent diffusion coefficient values compared to differentiated ones (G1-G2), without reaching statistical significance. Conclusion We did not observe any statistically significant correlation between ADC values and clinical-histological characteristics of SCCA of the oral cavity and oropharynx.
authors.affiliation: 1 Specialisation School of Radiology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bonello
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Radiology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Preda
authors.affiliation: 1 Specialisation School of Radiology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.affiliation: 1 Specialisation School of Radiology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Giannitto
authors.affiliation: 3 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raimondi
authors.affiliation: 4 Department of Head and Neck Surgery, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Mohssen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ansarin
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Pathology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Fausto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maffini
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Radiology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Summers
authors.affiliation: 1 Specialisation School of Radiology, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.|2 Department of Radiology, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bellomi
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009959:Oropharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic
keywords: Diffusion-weighted imaging; apparent diffusion coefficient; grading; oral cavity; oropharynx; squamous cell carcinoma