Diffusion kurtosis MRI as a predictive biomarker of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in high grade serous ovarian cancer

Journal article

AbstractThis study assessed the feasibility of using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) as a measure of tissue heterogeneity and proliferation to predict the response of high grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT). Seventeen patients with HGSOC were imaged at 3 T and had biopsy samples taken prior to any treatment. The patients were divided into two groups: responders and non-responders based on Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumours (RECIST) criteria. The following imaging metrics were calculated: apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), apparent diffusion (Dapp) and apparent kurtosis (Kapp). Tumour cellularity and proliferation were quantified using histology and Ki-67 immunohistochemistry. Mean Kapp before therapy was higher in responders compared to non-responders: 0.69 ± 0.13 versus 0.51 ± 0.11 respectively, P = 0.02. Tumour cellularity correlated positively with Kapp (rho = 0.50, P = 0.04) and negatively with both ADC (rho = −0.72, P = 0.001) and Dapp (rho = −0.80, P < 0.001). Ki-67 expression correlated with Kapp (rho = 0.53, P = 0.03) but not with ADC or Dapp. In conclusion, Kapp was found to be a potential predictive biomarker of NACT response in HGSOC, which suggests that DKI is a promising clinical tool for use oncology and radiology that should be evaluated further in future larger studies.

Authors: Deen, SS; Priest, AN; McLean, MA; Gill, AB; Brodie, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Nature Research
• Journal: Scientific Reports
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 10742-10742
• Publication date: 2019-07-24
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-47195-4
• EISSN: 2045-2322
• ISSN: 2045-2322
• Language: English
• Keywords: Oncology; Serous fluid; Radiology; Cancer; Immunohistochemistry; Biopsy; Imaging biomarker; Biomarker; Pathology; Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors; Ki-67; Magnetic resonance imaging; Chemotherapy; Internal medicine; Kurtosis; Medicine; Ovarian cancer; Biology; Effective diffusion coefficient; Phases of clinical research