title: Histogram analysis of apparent diffusion coefficient for monitoring early response in patients with advanced cervical cancers undergoing concurrent chemo-radiotherapy.
abstract: Background Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) histogram analysis has been widely used in determining tumor prognosis. Purpose To investigate the dynamic changes of ADC histogram parameters during concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (CCRT) in patients with advanced cervical cancers. Material and Methods This prospective study enrolled 32 patients with advanced cervical cancers undergoing CCRT who received diffusion-weighted (DW) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before CCRT, at the end of the second and fourth week during CCRT and one month after CCRT completion. The ADC histogram for the entire tumor volume was generated, and a series of histogram parameters was obtained. Dynamic changes of those parameters in cervical cancers were investigated as early biomarkers for treatment response. Results All histogram parameters except AUClowshowed significant changes during CCRT (all P < 0.05). There were three variable trends involving different parameters. The mode, 5th, 10th, and 25th percentiles showed similar early increase rates (33.33%, 33.99%, 34.12%, and 30.49%, respectively) at the end of the second week of CCRT. The pre-CCRT 5th and 25th percentiles of the complete response (CR) group were significantly lower than those of the partial response (PR) group. Conclusion A series of ADC histogram parameters of cervical cancers changed significantly at the early stage of CCRT, indicating their potential in monitoring early tumor response to therapy.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: 2 The Comprehensive Cancer Centre of Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Lijing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: 3 School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, PR China.
authors.forename: Zhengyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: 4 Radiation Oncology and Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaofeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Uterine cervical neoplasms; chemo-radiotherapy; diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging; histogram; treatment response