Dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI of nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A preliminary study of the correlations between quantitative parameters and clinical stage

Purpose To evaluate the relationship between quantitative parameters of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) and clinical stage of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Materials and Methods Fifty-one newly diagnosed NPC patients received MRI examination on Philips Achieva 3.0 Tesla TX MR system. We used DCE-Tool (Philips Healthcare, Best, The Netherlands) to investigate parameters from primary tumors. Tumor/node/metastasis and corresponding clinical stages were determined based on 2009 UICC 7th edition. The correlations between quantitative parameters and clinical stage were correlated using Pearson correlation analysis. Results Mean Ktrans, Kep, ve, and vp for primary tumors were 0.500 ± 0.188/min, 0.744 ± 0.273/min, 0.986 ± 0.595, and 0.052 ± 0.071, respectively. Both Ktrans and Kep of tumors showed moderate negative correlation with clinical stage, T stage and N stage (P < 0.05), while ve showed moderate positive correlation with them (P < 0.05). vp revealed a moderate negative correlation with T stage (r = −0.369; P < 0.004). Kep and ve have significant differences between many early and advanced stages patients. Conclusion DCE-MRI is feasible to assess vascular permeability of NPC patients. Our results first revealed that the quantitative parameters were significantly related to clinical stage of NPC. Thus, DCE-MRI may be valuable to add noninvasive prognostic indicators in evaluating NPC. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2014;39:940–948. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.