Purpose: To prospectively assess the incremental value of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) DWI in determining whether the adenocarcinoma originated from the uterine corpus or cervix.
Methods: Eighty consecutive uterine adenocarcinomas from the cervix or endometrium confirmed by histopathology underwent IVIM DWI acquisition on a 3.0T MR scanner before treatment. Five morphologic features were analyzed using Fisher exact test; IVIM DWI-derived parameters, including apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), true coefficient diffusivity (D), perfusion-related diffusivity (D*), and perfusion fraction (f) were compared using two-sample independent t-test or Mann-Whitney U test. Logistic regression analysis was used to develop different diagnosis model. The ROCs of these variables and diagnostic models were compared to evaluate the diagnostic efficiency.
Results: Among single morphologic features, tumor location yielded the highest AUC of 0.891 in distinguishing endometrial adenocarcinoma (EAC) from cervical adenocarcinoma (CAC). Among single IVIM DWI-derived parameters, f values showed the best diagnostic performance (AUC: 0.837) at the optimal cut-off value of 0.261. Additionally, the combined diagnostic model, which consisted of tumor location, ADC and f showed the largest AUC of 0.967 with the highest sensitivity of 88.14%, highest specificity of 100.00%, and highest accuracy of 91.25%.
Conclusion: IVIM DWI-derived parameters add additional diagnostic value to conventional morphologic features. A combined diagnosis model is a promising imaging tool for predicting the origin of uterine adenocarcinoma, further contributing to therapeutic decision-making.
Keywords: Differential diagnosis; Diffusion; Magnetic resonance imaging; Perfusion; Uterine neoplasms.