The Correlations Between MRI Perfusion Diffusion Parameters and 18F-FDG PET Metabolic Parameters in Primary Head-and-Neck Cancer

摘要

This study aimed to investigate the relationships among parameters from dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI, diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI), and ¹⁸F-fluorodeoxyglucose (¹⁸F-FDG) PET in patients with primary head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).A total of 34 patients with primary HNSCC underwent DCE-MRI, DWI, and ¹⁸F-FDG PET before treatment. The perfusion parameters (Ktrans, Ktransmax, Kep, Ve, Vp, and AUC60) from DCE-MRI and ADC (ADCmean, ADCmin) values from DWI were calculated within the manually placed ROI around the main tumor. Standardized uptake value (SUVmax, SUVmean), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), and total lesion glycolysis (TLG = SUVmean × MTV) were calculated with thresholds of 3.0 SUV. The associations between parameters were evaluated by Pearson correlation analysis.Significant correlations were identified between Ktrans and Kep (r = 0.631), Ktrans and Ve (r = 0.603), Ktrans and ADC_mean (r = 0.438), K_transmax and K_ep (r = 0.667), K_transmax and V_p (r = 0.351), V_e and AUC₆₀ (r = 0.364), V_e and ADC_mean (r = 0.590), and V_e and ADC_min (r = 0.361). ADC_min was reversely correlated with TLG (r = –0.347). Tumor volume was significantly associated with K_transmax (r = 0.348).The demonstrated relationships among parameters from DCE, DWI, and ¹⁸F-FDG PET suggest complex interactions among tumor biologic characteristics. Each diagnostic technique may provide complementary information for HNSCC.