The impact of the co-registration technique and analysis methodology in comparison studies between advanced imaging modalities and whole-mount-histology reference in primary prostate cancer

Sci Rep. 2021 Mar 12;11(1):5836. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-85028-5.

Abstract

Comparison studies using histopathology as standard of reference enable a validation of the diagnostic performance of imaging methods. This study analysed (1) the impact of different image-histopathology co-registration pathways, (2) the impact of the applied data analysis method and (3) intraindividually compared multiparametric magnet resonance tomography (mpMRI) and prostate specific membrane antigen positron emission tomography (PSMA-PET) by using the different approaches. Ten patients with primary PCa who underwent mpMRI and [18F]PSMA-1007 PET/CT followed by prostatectomy were prospectively enrolled. We demonstrate that the choice of the intermediate registration step [(1) via ex-vivo CT or (2) mpMRI] does not significantly affect the performance of the registration framework. Comparison of analysis methods revealed that methods using high spatial resolutions e.g. quadrant-based slice-by-slice analysis are beneficial for a differentiated analysis of performance, compared to methods with a lower resolution (segment-based analysis with 6 or 18 segments and lesions-based analysis). Furthermore, PSMA-PET outperformed mpMRI for intraprostatic PCa detection in terms of sensitivity (median %: 83-85 vs. 60-69, p < 0.04) with similar specificity (median %: 74-93.8 vs. 100) using both registration pathways. To conclude, the choice of an intermediate registration pathway does not significantly affect registration performance, analysis methods with high spatial resolution are preferable and PSMA-PET outperformed mpMRI in terms of sensitivity in our cohort.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antigens, Surface
  • Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted*
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Multimodal Imaging*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging*
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity

Substances

  • Antigens, Surface
  • FOLH1 protein, human
  • Glutamate Carboxypeptidase II