Texture Analysis of Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Maps in Cervical Carcinoma: Correlation with Histopathologic Findings and Prognosis.

Purpose: To determine the feasibility of texture analysis of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps and to assess the performance of texture analysis and ADC to predict histologic grade, parametrial invasion, lymph node metastasis, International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, recurrence, and recurrence-free survival (RFS) in patients with cervical carcinoma.

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included 58 patients with cervical carcinoma who were examined with a 1.5-T MRI system and diffusion-weighted imaging with values of 0 and 1000 sec/mm. Software with volumes of interest on ADC maps was used to extract 45 texture features, including higher-order texture features. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to compare the diagnostic performance of ADC map random forest models and of ADC values. Dunnett test, Spearman rank correlation coefficient, Kaplan-Meier analyses, log-rank test, and Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were also used for statistical analyses.

Results: The ADC map random forest models showed a significantly larger area under the ROC curve (AUC) than the AUC of ADC values for predicting high-grade cervical carcinoma ( = .0036), but not for parametrial invasion, lymph node metastasis, stages III-IV, and recurrence ( = .0602, .3176, .0924, and .5633, respectively). The random forest models predicted that the mean RFS rates were significantly shorter for high-grade cervical carcinomas, parametrial invasion, lymph node metastasis, stages III-IV, and recurrence ( = .0405, < .0001, .0344, .0001, and .0015, respectively); the random forest models for parametrial invasion and stages III-IV were more useful than ADC values ( = .0018) for predicting RFS.

Conclusion: The ADC map random forest models were more useful for noninvasively evaluating histologic grade, parametrial invasion, lymph node metastasis, FIGO stage, and recurrence and for predicting RFS in patients with cervical carcinoma than were ADC values. Comparative Studies, Genital/Reproductive, MR-Diffusion Weighted Imaging, MR-Imaging, Neoplasms-Primary, Pathology, Pelvis, Tissue Characterization, Uterus© RSNA, 2020See also the commentary by Reinhold and Nougaret in this issue.