Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging for pretreatment prediction of early chemo-radiotherapy response in larynx and hypopharynx carcinoma

PURPOSE This study is to investigate the use of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in predicting early response to CRT (chemo-radiotherapy) in patients with larynx and hypopharynx carcinoma from primary tumors. METHOD Sixty-two patients with larynx and hypopharynx carcinoma underwent two DCE-MRI studies: a baseline exam before any treatmentanda post-treatment exam 3 weeks after CRT. At the end of treatment, patients were classified as responders, or non-responders according to the Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors criteria (RECIST). The time intensity curves (TIC) were extracted and processed to obtain time to peak (TTP), maximum slope of increase (MSI), maximum slope of decrease (MSD) and positive enhancement integral (PEI), and the semi-quantitative MRI parameters were compared and analyzed between the two groups. RESULTS Fifty-four and 8 patients were included the responder and non-responder groups. It was observed that the MSI, MSD, and PEI were significantly lower post-treatment than pre-treatment(P < 0.05). The pretreatment MSI, MSD, and PEI parameters of responders were significantly higher than those of non-responders (P< 0.05). The post-treatment MSI, MSD, and PEI parameters of responders were significantly lower than those of non-responders (P< 0.05). Based on ROC curve analysis, at a threshold of 154.81 for pretreatment MSI, the corresponding AUC, sensitivity, and specificity were 0.882, 89.3% and 73.5%, respectively. CONCLUSION The semi-quantitative DCE-MRI may aid in the prediction of early response to CRT in patients with larynx and hypopharynx carcinoma.