Purpose: Non-invasive methods for predicting pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) can provide distinct leverage in the management of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC). This study aimed to investigate whether including the golden-angle radial sparse parallel (GRASP) dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) perfusion parameter (K), in addition to tumor regression grading (TRG) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values, can improve the predictive ability for pCR.
Methods: Patients with LARC who underwent nCRT and subsequent surgery were included.