OBJECTIVES: To correlate pharmacokinetic parameters of 3-T dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE-)MRI with histopathologic microvascular and lymphatic parameters in organ-confined prostate cancer.
METHODS: In 18 patients with unilateral peripheral zone (pT2a) tumours who underwent DCE-MRI prior to radical prostatectomy (RP), the following pharmacokinetic parameters were assessed: permeability surface area volume transfer constant (K trans), extravascular extracellular volume (Ve) and rate constant (K ep). In the RP sections blood and lymph vessels were visualised immunohistochemically and automatically examined and analysed. Parameters assessed included microvessel density (MVD), area (MVA) and perimeter (MVP) as well as lymph vessel density (LVD), area (LVA) and perimeter (LVP).
RESULTS: A negative correlation was found between age and K trans and K ep for tumour (r = -0.60, p = 0.009; r = -0.67, p = 0.002) and normal (r = -0.54, p = 0.021; r = -0.46, p = 0.055) tissue. No correlation existed between absolute values of microvascular parameters from histopathology and DCE-MRI. In contrast, the ratio between tumour and normal tissue (correcting for individual microvascularity variations) significantly correlated between K ep and MVD (r = 0.61, p = 0.007) and MVP (r = 0.54, p = 0.022). The lymphovascular parameters showed only a correlation between LVA and K ep (r = -0.66, p = 0.003).
CONCLUSIONS: Significant correlations between DCE-MRI and histopathologic parameters were found when correcting for interpatient variations in microvascularity.
Written by:
van Niekerk CG, van der Laak JA, Hambrock T, Huisman HJ, Witjes JA, Barentsz JO, de Kaa CA. Are you the author?
Department of Pathology, Radboud University Medical Centre, P.O. Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Reference: Eur Radiol. 2014 Jul 18. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1007/s00330-014-3301-z
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 25033819
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