Apparent diffusion coefficient value of gastric cancer by diffusion-weighted imaging: Correlations with the histological differentiation and Lauren classification

Highlights: • Gastric cancers' ADC values were significantly lower than normal gastric wall. • Gastric adenocarcinomas with different differentiation had different ADC values. • Gastric adenocarcinomas' ADC values correlated with histologic differentiations. • Gastric cancers' ADC values correlated with Lauren classifications. • Mean ADC value was better than min ADC value in characterizing gastric cancers. - Abstract: Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlations between histological differentiation and Lauren classification of gastric cancer and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). Materials and methods: Sixty-nine patients with gastric cancer lesions underwent preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (3.0T) and surgical resection. DWI was obtained with a single-shot, echo-planar imaging sequence in the axial plane (b values: 0 and 1000 s/mm²). Mean and minimum ADC values were obtained for each gastric cancer and normal gastric walls by two radiologists, who were blinded to the histological findings. Histological type, degree of differentiation and Lauren classification of each resected specimen were determined by one pathologist. Mean and minimum ADC values of gastric cancers with different histological types, degrees of differentiation and Lauren classifications were compared. Correlations between ADC values and histological differentiation and Lauren classification were analyzed. Results: The mean and minimum ADC values of gastric cancers, as a whole and separately, were significantly lower than those of normal gastric walls (all p values <0.001). There were significant differences in the mean and minimum ADC values among gastric cancers with different histological types, degrees of differentiation and Lauren classifications (p < 0.05). Mean and minimum ADC values correlated significantly (all p < 0.001) with histological differentiation (r = 0.564, 0.578) and Lauren classification (r = −0.493, −0.481). Conclusions: The ADC values may be helpful as a noninvasive tool for evaluating the histological features of gastric cancer, such as histological type, degree of differentiation and Lauren classification