Dynamic contrast-enhanced case-control analysis in 3T MRI of prostate cancer can help to characterize tumor aggressiveness

Highlights: • Curve types showed no statistical association with healthy/tumor peripheral areas. • K^trans, v_e, upslope and AUC showed significant differences in controls vs. tumors. • The global diagnostic performance of standard MRI perfusion parameters is poor. • Normalized K^trans, upslope and AUC had good diagnostic accuracy for tumor grading. - Abstract: Purpose: The aim of this work is to establish normality and tumor tissue ranges for perfusion parameters from dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MR of the peripheral prostate at 3T and to compare the diagnostic performance of quantitative and semi-quantitative parameters. Materials and methods: Thirty-six patients with prostate carcinomas (18 Gleason-6, 15 Gleason-7, and 3 Gleason-8) and 33 healthy subjects were included. Image analysis workflow comprised four steps: manual segmentation of whole prostate and lesions, series registration, voxelwise T1 mapping and calculation of pharmacokinetic and semi-quantitative parameters. Results: K^trans, v_e, upslope and AUC60 showed statistically significant differences between healthy peripheral areas and tumors. Curve type showed no association with healthy/tumor peripheral areas (chi-square = 0.702). Areas under the ROC curves were 0.64 (95% CI: 0.54–0.75), 0.70 (0.60–0.80), 0.62 (0.51–0.72) and 0.63 (0.52–0.74) for K^trans, v_e, upslope and AUC60, respectively. The optimal cutoff values were: K^trans = 0.21 min⁻¹ (sensitivity = 0.61, specificity = 0.64), v_e = 0.36 (0.63, 0.71), upslope = 0.59 (0.59, 0.59) and AUC60 = 2.4 (0.63, 0.64). Significant differences were found between Gleason scores 6 and 7 for normalized K^trans, upslope and AUC60, with good diagnostic accuracy (area under ROC curve 0.80, 95% CI: 0.60–1.00). Conclusion: Quantitative (K^trans and v_e) and semi-quantitative (upslope and AUC60) perfusion parameters showed significant differences between tumors and control areas in the peripheral prostate. Normalized K^trans, upslope and AUC60 values might characterize tumor aggressiveness.