Recent advances of diffusion weighted imaging in bladder carcinoma

Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is a kind of noninvasive, efficient and convenient technology which could evaluate the diffusion of water molecule in vivo. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) calculated from DWI raw data can reflect pathological and physiological information, and can help us to noninvasively evaluate the organizational structure and functional state. DWI plays an important role in planning treatment strategies in bladder carcinoma. By combining with conventional MRI imaging, it can improve the accuracies and specificities in early diagnosis, clinical stage, differentiating recurrence from inflammation associated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, and the evaluation of cancer response to radiotherapy and chemotherapy. (authors)