Usefulness of apparent diffusion coefficient values for distinguishing between squamous cell carcinoma and malignant salivary gland tumor of the head and neck

Theeraphol Panyaping; Nawanwat Tepkidakarn; Sivaporn Kiatthanabumrung; Duangkamon Wattanatranon; Oranan Tritanon

doi:10.1177/19714009231163561

Usefulness of apparent diffusion coefficient values for distinguishing between squamous cell carcinoma and malignant salivary gland tumor of the head and neck

Neuroradiol J. 2023 Oct;36(5):548-554. doi: 10.1177/19714009231163561. Epub 2023 Mar 10.

Authors

Theeraphol Panyaping¹, Nawanwat Tepkidakarn¹, Sivaporn Kiatthanabumrung², Duangkamon Wattanatranon³, Oranan Tritanon¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Ratchathewi, Thailand.
² Department of Otolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Ratchathewi, Thailand.
³ Department of Anatomical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Ratchathewi, Thailand.

PMID: 36898679
PMCID: PMC10569202 (available on 2024-10-01)
DOI: 10.1177/19714009231163561

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of the study was to assess the usefulness of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values for differentiating between SCC and malignant salivary gland tumors of the head and neck.

Materials and methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 29 patients with SCCs and 10 patients with malignant salivary gland tumors who underwent pretreatment MRI of the head and neck. The minimum and average ADC values of the tumors were measured, with normalized tumor to spinal cord ADC ratios generated. Comparisons of ADC values and normalized ADC ratios between the two tumor types were performed using the unpaired t-test.

Results: The minimum and average ADC values and normalized average ADC ratios of SCCs (753.17 ± 214.47 × 10^-6 mm²/s, 848.79 ± 250.13 × 10^-6 mm²/s, and 0.92 ± 0.25, respectively) were significantly lower than those of malignant salivary gland tumors (1084.90 ± 242.60 × 10^-6 mm²/s, 1305.90 ± 270.99 × 10^-6 mm²/s, and 1.58 ± 0.31, respectively; all p < 0.001). A cutoff value of 1.31 for the normalized average ADC ratio was used to distinguish between SCCs and malignant salivary gland tumors and achieved an area under the curve of 0.93, sensitivity of 96.6%, specificity of 90%, and accuracy of 94.6%.

Conclusion: ADC value measurement could help differentiate between SCCs and malignant salivary gland tumors.

Keywords: ADC; DWI; malignant salivary gland tumor; squamous cell carcinoma.