Search

Background Variability of acquisition and interpretation of prostate multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) persists despite implementation of the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) version 2.1 due to the range of reader experience and subjectivity of lesion characterization. A quantitative method, hybrid multidimensional MRI (HM-MRI), may introduce objectivity. Purpose To compare performance, interobserver agreement, and interpretation time of radiologists using mpMRI versus HM-MRI to diagnose clinically significant prostate cancer. Materials and Methods In this retrospective analysis, men with prostatectomy or MRI-fused transrectal US biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer underwent mpMRI (triplanar T2-weighted, diffusion-weighted, and dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging) and HM-MRI (with multiple echo times and

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES To evaluate whether dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI with a split injection of 30% followed by 70% of a standard dose (30PSD and 70PSD) of gadoterate meglumine (DOTAREM) can improve diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa). MATERIALS AND METHODS MRI for twenty patients was performed on a Philips Ingenia 3T scanner without an endorectal coil followed by subsequent radical prostatectomy. DCE 3D T1-FFE data were acquired with injection of 0.03 mmol/kg followed after 2 minutes by 0.07 mmol/kg of DOTAREM. Regions-of-interest on histologically verified PCa and normal tissue in different prostate zones and the iliac artery were drawn. Average signal intensity as function of time was calculated for each ROI and fitted by using the signal intensity form of the Tofts (SI-Tofts) model to extract physiological parameters (Ktrans and ve). In addition, the scaled arterial input function (AIF) obtained from 30PSD data was used to analyze 70PSD data. RESULTS The AIF obtained from 30PSD data showed both first and second passes clearly and had much higher peak magnitude than AIFs from 70PSD data. Ktrans was significantly (p < 0.05) larger in PCa than in normal tissue in peripheral zone (PZ) and central zone (CZ) for both 70PSD and 70PSD data analyzed with a scaled AIF. Ktrans in cancer overlapped with that of normal tissue in the transition zone (TZ). There was no statistical difference in ve between cancer and normal tissue. Receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that use of the AIF from 30PSD data to analyze 70PSD data increased the diagnostic efficacy of Ktrans in the PZ and CZ. CONCLUSION The split dose protocol for injection of Dotarem increased diagnostic accuracy of quantitative analysis with the SI-Tofts model.

The staging and surveillance of testicular cancer is a complex topic, which integrates clinical, biochemical, and imaging components. The use of imaging for staging and surveillance of testicular cancer is individually tailored to each patient by considering tumor histology and prognosis. This document discusses the rationale for use of imaging by imaging modality during the initial staging of testicular seminoma and nonseminoma tumors and during the planned surveillance of stage IA and IB testicular cancer by histological subtype integrating clinical suspicion for disease recurrence in surveillance protocols. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment.

The spatial two-tissue compartment model (2TCM) was used to analyze prostate dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI data and compared with the standard Tofts model. A total of 29 patients with biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer were included in this IRB-approved study. MRI data were acquired on a Philips Achieva 3T-TX scanner. After T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted imaging, DCE data using 3D T1-FFE mDIXON sequence were acquired pre- and post-contrast media injection (0.1 mmol/kg Multihance) for 60 dynamic scans with temporal resolution of 8.3 s/image. The 2TCM has one fast (K1trans and k1ep) and one slow (K2trans and k2ep) exchanging compartment, compared with the standard Tofts model parameters (Ktrans and kep). On average, prostate cancer had significantly higher values (p < 0.007) than normal prostate tissue for all calculated parameters. There was a strong correlation (r = 0.94, p < 0.0001) between Ktrans and K1trans for cancer, but weak correlation (r = 0.28, p < 0.05) between kep and k1ep. Average root-mean-square error (RMSE) in fits from the 2TCM was significantly smaller (p < 0.001) than the RMSE in fits from the Tofts model. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that fast K1trans had the highest area under the curve (AUC) than any other individual parameter. The combined four parameters from the 2TCM had a considerably higher AUC value than the combined two parameters from the Tofts model. The 2TCM may be useful for quantitative analysis of prostate DCE-MRI data and may provide new information in the diagnosis of prostate cancer.

Background Tissue estimates obtained by using microstructure imaging techniques, such as hybrid multidimensional (HM) MRI, may improve prostate cancer diagnosis but require histologic validation. Purpose To validate prostate tissue composition measured by using HM MRI, with quantitative histologic evaluation from whole-mount prostatectomy as the reference standard. Materials and Methods In this HIPAA-compliant study, from December 2016 to July 2018, prospective participants with biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer underwent 3-T MRI before radical prostatectomy. Axial HM MRI was performed with all combinations of echo times (57, 70, 150, and 200 msec) and

PURPOSE: To validate prostate tissue composition measured using hybrid multi-dimensional MRI (HM-MRI) by comparing with reference standard (ground truth) results from pathologists’ interpretation of clinical histopathology slides following whole mount prostatectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 36 prospective participants with biopsy-confirmed prostate cancer underwent 3 T MRI prior to radical prostatectomy. Axial HM-MRI was acquired with all combinations of echo times of 57, 70, 150, 200 ms and b-values of 0, 150, 750, 1500 s/mm(2) and data were fitted using a 3-compartment signal model using custom software to generate volumes for each tissue component (stroma, epithelium, lumen). Three experienced genitourinary pathologists independently as well as in consensus reviewed each histology image and provide an estimate of percentage of epithelium and lumen for regions-of-interest corresponding to MRI (n = 165; 64 prostate cancers and 101 benign tissue). Agreement statistics using total deviation index (TDI(0.9)) was performed for tissue composition measured using HM-MRI and reference standard results from pathologists’ consensus. RESULTS: Based on the initial results showing typical variation among pathologists TDI(0.9) = 25%, we determined we will declare acceptable agreement if the 95% one-sided upper confident limit of TDI(0.9) is less than 30%. The results of tissue composition measurement from HM-MRI compared to ground truth results from the consensus of 3 pathologists, reveal that ninety percent of absolute paired differences (TDI(0.9)) were within 18.8% and 22.4% in measuring epithelium and lumen, respectively. We are 95% confident that 90% of absolute paired differences were within 20.6% and 24.2% in measuring epithelium and lumen, respectively. These were less than our criterion of 30% and inter-pathologists’ agreement (22.3% for epithelium and 24.2% for lumen) and therefore we accept the agreement performance of HM-MRI. The results revealed excellent area under the ROC curve for differentiating cancer from benign tissue based on epithelium (HM-MRI: 0.87, pathologists: 0.97) and lumen volume (HM-MRI: 0.85, pathologists: 0.77). CONCLUSION: The agreement in tissue composition measurement using hybrid multidimensional MRI and consensus of pathologists is on par with the inter-raters (pathologists) agreement.

Prostate cancer is the second most common malignancy in men worldwide. Systematic transrectal prostate biopsy is commonly used to obtain tissue to establish the diagnosis. In recent years, however,...

Urothelial cancer is the second most common cancer, and cause of cancer death, related to the genitourinary tract. The goals of surveillance imaging after the treatment of urothelial cancer of the urinary bladder are to detect new or previously undetected urothelial tumors, to identify metastatic disease, and to evaluate for complications of therapy. For surveillance, patients can be stratified into one of three groups: 1) nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer with no symptoms or additional risk factors; 2) nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer with symptoms or additional risk factors; and 3) muscle invasive bladder cancer. This document is a review of the current literature for urothelial cancer and resulting recommendations for surveillance imaging. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment.

There are increasing concerns regarding intracellular accumulation of gadolinium (Gd) after multiple dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI scans. We investigated whether a low dose (LD) of Gd-based contrast agent is as effective as a high dose (HD) for quantitative analysis of DCE-MRI data, and evaluated the use of a split dose protocol to obtain new diagnostic parameters. Female C3H mice (n = 6) were injected with mammary carcinoma cells in the hind leg. MRI experiments were performed on 9.4 T scanner. DCE-MRI data were acquired with 1.5 s temporal resolution before and after a LD (0.04 mmol/kg), then again after 30 min followed by a HD (0.2 mmol/kg) bolus injection of Omniscan. The standard Tofts model was used to extract physiological parameters (Ktrans and ve) with the arterial input function derived from muscle reference tissue. In addition, an empirical mathematical model was used to characterize maximum contrast agent uptake (A), contrast agent uptake rate (α) and washout rate (β and γ). There were moderate to strong correlations (r = 0.69–0.97, p

Purpose To compare the effect of different echo times (TE) on the detection of prostate cancer (PCa) on T2-weighted MR images. Materials and Methods This study recruited patients (n = 38) with histologically confirmed PCa who underwent preoperative 3T MRI. Three radiologists independently marked region on interests (ROIs) on suspected PCa lesions on T2-weighted images at different TEs: 90, 150, and 180 ms obtained with Turbo Spin Echo imaging protocol with multiple echoes. The ROIs were assigned a value 1–5 indicating the reviewer's confidence in accurately detecting PCa. These ROIs were compared to histologically confirmed PCa (n = 95) on whole mount prostatectomy sections to calculate sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), and confidence score. Results Two radiologists (R1, R2) showed significantly increased sensitivity for PCa detection at 180 ms TE compared to 90 ms (R1: 43.2, 50.5, 50.5%, R2: 45.3, 44.2, 53.7% at TE of 90, 150, 180 ms, respectively) (p = 0.048, 0.033 for R1 and R2). Sensitivity was similar for radiologist 3 (45.3%–46.3%) at different TE values (p = 0.953). No significant difference in the PPV (R1: 64.1%–70.6%, R2: 46.7%–56.0%, R3: 70.5%–81.5%) and the confidence score assigned (R1: 4.6–4.8, R2: 4.6–4.8 R3: 4.3–4.4) was found for either of the radiologists. Conclusion Our results suggest improved detection of PCa with similar PPV and confidence scores when higher TE values are utilized for T2-weighted image acquisition.

Background Recently developed time-dependent diffusion MRI has potential in characterizing cellular tissue microstructures; however, its value in imaging prostate cancer (PCa) remains unknown. Purpose To investigate the feasibility of time-dependent diffusion MRI-based microstructural mapping for noninvasively characterizing cellular properties of PCa and for discriminating between clinically significant PCa and clinically insignificant disease. Materials and Methods Men with a clinical suspicion of PCa were enrolled prospectively between October 2019 and August 2020. Time-dependent diffusion MRI data were acquired with pulsed and oscillating gradient diffusion MRI sequences at an equivalent diffusion time of 7.5-30 msec on a 3.0-T scanner. Time-dependent diffusion MRI-based microstructural parameters, including cell diameter, intracellular volume fraction, cellularity, and diffusivities, were estimated with a two-compartment model. These were compared for different International Society of Urological Pathology grade groups (GGs), and their performance in discriminating clinically significant PCa (GG1) from clinically insignificant disease (benign and GG 1) was determined with a linear discriminant analysis. The fitted microstructural parameters were validated by means of correlation with histopathologic measurements. Results In the 48 enrolled men, the time-dependent diffusion MRI measurements showed that higher GG was correlated with higher intracellular volume fraction and higher cellularity (intracellular volume fraction = 0.22, 0.36, 0.34, 0.37, and 0.40 in GGs 1-5, respectively

Contains fulltext : 252022.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access) Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common cause of cancer death in males. Targeting MRI-visible lesions has led to an overall increase in the detection of clinically significant PCa compared to the prior practice of random ultrasound-guided biopsy of the prostate. Additionally, advances in MRI-guided minimally invasive focal treatments are providing new options for patients with PCa. This review summarizes the currently utilized real-time MRI-guided interventions for PCa diagnosis and treatment.

The Chicago Consensus Working Group provides multidisciplinary recommendations for the management of desmoplastic small round cell tumor, breast, and gastrointestinal stromal tumor specifically related to peritoneal surface malignancy. These guidelines are developed with input from leading experts including surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, palliative care physicians, and pharmacists. These guidelines recognize and address the emerging need for increased awareness in the appropriate management of peritoneal surface disease. They are not intended to replace the quest for higher levels of evidence.

The Chicago Consensus Working Group provides multidisciplinary recommendations for palliative care specifically related to peritoneal surface malignancies. These guidelines are developed with input from leading experts including surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, gynecologic oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, palliative care physicians, and pharmacists. These guidelines recognize and address the emerging need for increased awareness in the appropriate management of peritoneal surface disease. They are not intended to replace the quest for higher levels of evidence.

The Chicago Consensus Working Group provides multidisciplinary recommendations for the management of neuroendocrine tumors specifically related to the management of peritoneal surface malignancy. These guidelines are developed with input from leading experts, including surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, pathologists, radiologists, palliative care physicians, and pharmacists. These guidelines recognize and address the emerging need for increased awareness in the appropriate management of peritoneal surface disease. They are not intended to replace the quest for higher levels of evidence.

Lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic enlargement have a high prevalence in men over 50 years of age. Diagnosis is made with a combination of focused history and physician examination and validated symptom questionnaires. Urodynamic studies can help to differentiate storage from voiding abnormalities. Pelvic ultrasound may be indicated to assess bladder volume and wall thickness. Other imaging modalities, including prostate MRI, are usually not indicated in the initial workup and evaluation of uncomplicated lower urinary tract symptoms from an enlarged prostate. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment.

Urothelial cancer is the second most common cancer, and cause of cancer death, related to the genitourinary tract. The goals of surveillance imaging after the treatment of urothelial cancer of the urinary bladder are to detect new or previously undetected urothelial tumors, to identify metastatic disease, and to evaluate for complications of therapy. For surveillance, patients can be stratified into one of three groups: (1) nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer with no symptoms or additional risk factors; (2) nonmuscle invasive bladder cancer with symptoms or additional risk factors; and (3) muscle invasive bladder cancer. This article is a review of the current literature for urothelial cancer and resulting recommendations for surveillance imaging. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment.

To provide a quantitative assessment of diffusion-weighted MR images of the prostate through identification of PIDS which clearly represents artifacts in the data. We calculated the percentage and distribution of PIDS in prostate DWI and compare the amount of PIDS between mpMRI images obtained with and without an endorectal coil.This IRB approved retrospective study (from 03/03/2014 to 03/10/2020), included 40 patients scanned with endorectal coil (ERC) and 40 without ER coil (NERC). PIDS contains any voxel where: (1) the diffusion signal increases despite an increase in b-value; and/or (2) apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) is more than 3.0 μm80 patients (58 ± 8 years old, 80 men) were evaluated. The percentage of voxels exhibiting PIDS was 17.1 ± 8.1% for the ERC cohort and 22.2 ± 15.5% for the NERC cohort. PIDS for NERC versus ERC were not significantly different (p = 0.14). The apex and base showed similar percentages of PIDS in ERC (p = 0.30) and NERC (p = 0.86). The mid (13.8 ± 8.6%) in ERC showed lower values (p = 0.02) of PIDS compared to apex (19.9 ± 11.1%) and base (17.5 ± 8.3%).PIDS maps provide a spatially resolved quantitative quality assessment for prostate DWI. Average PIDS over the entire prostate were similar for the ERC and NERC cohorts, and did not differ significantly across prostate zones. However, for many of the patients, PIDS was focally much higher in specific prostate zones. PIDS assessment can guide Radiologist's evaluation of images and the development of improved DWI sequences.

Prostate cancer is the second most common malignancy in men worldwide. Systematic transrectal prostate biopsy is commonly used to obtain tissue to establish the diagnosis. In recent years, however, more clinically significant cancer and less clinically insignificant cancer have been detected with MRI targeted biopsy (on the basis of an MRI examination performed before consideration of biopsy) than with systematic biopsy. This approach of performing MRI before biopsy has become, or is becoming, a standard of practice in centers throughout the world. This growing use of an MRI-directed pathway is leading to performance of a larger volume of MRI targeted prostate biopsies. The three common MRI targeted biopsy techniques are cognitive biopsy, MRI-ultrasound software fusion biopsy, and MRI in-bore guided biopsy. These techniques for using MRI information at biopsy can be performed via a transrectal or transperineal approach. The purpose of this review is to describe the three MRI targeted biopsy techniques and their advantages and shortcomings. Comparisons among the techniques are summarized on the basis of the available evidence. Studies to date have had heterogeneous results, and the preferred technique remains debated.

Rationale and Objectives To investigate whether pre-treatment quantitative multiparametric MRI can predict biochemical outcome of prostate cancer (PCa) patients treated with primary radiotherapy (RT). Materials and Methods Fifty-one patients with biopsy confirmed PCa underwent prostate multiparametric MRI on 3T MR scanner prior to RT. Thirty-seven men (73%) were treated with external beam RT alone, 12 men (24%) were treated with brachytherapy monotherapy, and two men (4%) were treated with external beam RT with brachytherapy boost. The index lesion was outlined by a radiologist and quantitative apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), T2 and DCE parameters were measured. Biochemical failure was defined using the Phoenix criteria. Results After a median follow-up of 65 months, seven patients had biochemical failure. ADC had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.71 for predicting RT outcome with significantly lower ADC (0.78 ± 0.17 vs 0.96 ± 0.26 µm2/ms, p = 0.04) of the index lesion in men with biochemical failure. Ideal ADC cutoff point (Youdens index) was 0.96 µm2/ms which had a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 48% for predicting biochemical failure. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that lower ADC values were associated with significantly lower freedom from biochemical failure (FFBF, p = 0.03, no failures out of 20 men if ADC ≥ 0.96 µm2/ms; seven of 31 with failures if ADC Conclusion Our results suggest that quantitative ADC values of the index lesion may predict biochemical failure following primary radiotherapy in patients with PCa. Lower ADC values were associated with inferior biochemical control.

Background Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) for prostate cancer detection without careful patient selection may lead to excessive resource utilization and costs. Objective To develop and validate a clinical tool for predicting the presence of high-risk lesions on mpMRI. Design, setting, and participants Four tertiary care centers were included in this retrospective and prospective study (BiRCH Study Collaborative). Statistical models were generated using 1269 biopsy-naive, prior negative biopsy, and active surveillance patients who underwent mpMRI. Using age, prostate-specific antigen, and prostate volume, a support vector machine model was developed for predicting the probability of harboring Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System 4 or 5 lesions. The accuracy of future predictions was then prospectively assessed in 214 consecutive patients. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis Receiver operating characteristic, calibration, and decision curves were generated to assess model performance. Results and limitations For biopsy-naive and prior negative biopsy patients (n = 811), the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.730 on internal validation. Excellent calibration and high net clinical benefit were observed. On prospective external validation at two separate institutions (n = 88 and n = 126), the machine learning model discriminated with AUCs of 0.740 and 0.744, respectively. The final model was developed on the Microsoft Azure Machine Learning platform (birch.azurewebsites.net). This model requires a prostate volume measurement as input. Conclusions In patients who are naive to biopsy or those with a prior negative biopsy, BiRCH models can be used to select patients for mpMRI. Patient summary In this multicenter study, we developed and prospectively validated a calculator that can be used to predict prostate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results using patient age, prostate-specific antigen, and prostate volume as input. This tool can aid health care professionals and patients to make an informed decision regarding whether to get an MRI.

An acute scrotum is defined as testicular swelling with acute pain and can reflect multiple etiologies including epididymitis or epididymo-orchitis, torsion of the spermatic cord, or torsion of the testicular appendages. Quick and accurate diagnosis of acute scrotum and its etiology with imaging is necessary because a delayed diagnosis of torsion for as little as 6 hours can cause irreparable testicular damage. Ultrasound duplex Doppler of the scrotum is usually appropriate as the initial imaging for the acute onset of scrotal pain without trauma or antecedent mass in an adult or child. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment.

The objective of our study was to investigate the comparative effectiveness of different MRI sequences for the estimation of index lesion volume in patients with prostate cancer (PCa) compared with ground truth volume measured on whole-mount pathology.Patients with PCa underwent multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) on a 3-T MRI scanner before radical prostatectomy. Forty PCa index lesions were identified and outlined on histology by a pathologist. Two radiologists who were informed about the presence of PCa but were not aware of lesion outlines on histology worked in consensus to delineate PCa lesions on T2-weighted imaging, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps, and early-phase dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI). The lesion volumes from different mpMRI sequences and the percentage of volume underestimation compared with pathology were calculated and correlated with volume at pathology. The repeated-measures ANOVA with the posthoc Bonferroni test was performed to evaluate whether the difference between the estimated tumor volumes was statistically significant.The mean PCa lesion volume estimated from pathology, T2-weighted imaging, DWI (ADC maps), and DCE-MRI were 4.61 ± 4.99 (SD) cmDCE-MRI performed better than T2-weighted imaging and DWI for estimation of index PCa volume and therefore can be preferred over these other two sequences for volume estimation.

Multiparametric MR imaging is being used for prostate cancer diagnosis. However, many cancers are missed and the performance needs to improve before it can be used for population-level screening. We can expect standardization of multiparametric MR imaging and increased use of quantitative multiparametric MR imaging, which will lead to more reproducible results and improved interpretation. The development and integration of new acquisition techniques and use of artificial intelligence for image interpretation can lead to implementation of new clinical MR methods. These will lead to increased adoption of multiparametric MR imaging for prostate cancer diagnosis and for guiding intervention and follow-up.

MR imaging-guided focal therapy is a viable treatment option for patients with localized prostate cancer. After the identification of a malignant focus in the prostate gland on multiparametric MR imaging, treatment can be directed in a precise fashion to the area of interest. The goal of focal therapy is to eradicate prostate cancer while minimizing complications that can affect quality of life. Currently, the most commonly used methods of focal treatment of prostate cancer are cryotherapy, high-intensity focused ultrasound, and laser ablation.

Accurately measuring arterial input function (AIF) is essential for quantitative analysis of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We used the indicator dilution principle to evaluate the accuracy of AIF measured directly from an artery following a low-dose contrast media ultrafast DCE-MRI. In total, 15 patients with biopsy-confirmed localized prostate cancers were recruited. Cardiac MRI (CMRI) and ultrafast DCE-MRI were acquired on a Philips 3 T Ingenia scanner. The AIF was measured at iliac arties following injection of a low-dose (0.015 mmol/kg) gadolinium (Gd) contrast media. The cardiac output (CO) from CMRI (COCMRI) was calculated from the difference in ventricular volume at diastole and systole measured on the short axis of heart. The CO from DCE-MRI (CODCE) was also calculated from the AIF and dose of the contrast media used. A correlation test and Bland–Altman plot were used to compare COCMRI and CODCE. The average (±standard deviation [SD]) area under the curve measured directly from local AIF was 0.219 ± 0.07 mM·min. The average (±SD) COCMRI and CODCE were 6.52 ± 1.47 L/min and 6.88 ± 1.64 L/min, respectively. There was a strong positive correlation (r = 0.82, P &lt, 01) and good agreement between COCMRI and CODCE. The CODCE is consistent with the reference standard COCMRI. This indicates that the AIF can be measured accurately from an artery with ultrafast DCE-MRI following injection of a low-dose contrast media.

Rationale and Objectives This study compares the performance of T2 maps in the detection of prostate cancer (PCa) in comparison to T2-weighted (T2W) magnetic resonance images. Materials and Methods The prospective study was institutional review board approved. Consenting patients (n = 45) with histologic confirmed PCa underwent preoperative 3-T magnetic resonance imaging with or without endorectal coil. Two radiologists, working independently, marked regions of interests (ROIs) on PCa lesions separately on T2W images and T2 maps. Each ROI was assigned a score of 1–5 based on the confidence in accurately detecting cancer, with 5 being the highest confidence. Subsequently, the histologically confirmed PCa lesions (n = 112) on whole-mount sections were matched with ROIs to calculate sensitivity, positive predictive value (PPV), and radiologist confidence score. Quantitative T2 values of PCa and benign tissue ROIs were measured. Results Sensitivity and confidence score for PCa detection were similar for T2W images (51%, 4.5 ± 0.8) and T2 maps (52%, 4.5 ± 0.6). However, PPV was significantly higher (P = .001) for T2 maps (88%) compared to T2W (72%) images. The use of endorectal coils nominally improved sensitivity (T2W: 55 vs 47%, T2 map: 54% vs 48%) compared to the use of no endorectal coils, but not the PPV and the confidence score. Quantitative T2 values for PCa (105 ± 28 milliseconds) were significantly (P = 9.3 × 10−14) lower than benign peripheral zone tissue (211 ± 71 milliseconds), with moderate significant correlation with Gleason score (ρ = −0.284). Conclusions Our study shows that review of T2 maps by radiologists has similar sensitivity but higher PPV compared to T2W images. Additional quantitative information obtained from T2 maps is helpful in differentiating cancer from normal prostate tissue and determining its aggressiveness.

PURPOSE Prostate cancer is the most common noncutaneous cancer among men in the USA. Focal laser thermal ablation (FLA) has the potential to control small tumors while preserving urinary and erectile function by leaving the neurovascular bundles and urethral sphincters intact. Accurate needle guidance is critical to the success of FLA. Multiparametric magnetic resonance images (mpMRI) can be used to identify targets, guide needles, and assess treatment outcomes. In this study, we evaluated the location of ablation zones relative to targeted lesions in 23 patients who underwent FLA therapy in a phase II trial. The ablation zone margins and unablated tumor volume were measured to determine whether complete coverage of each tumor was achieved, which would be considered a clinically successful ablation. METHODS Preoperative mpMRI was acquired for each patient 2-3 months preceding the procedure and the prostate and lesion(s) were manually contoured on 3 T T2-weighted axial images. The prostate and ablation zone(s) were also manually contoured on postablation 1.5 T T1-weighted contrast-enhanced axial images acquired immediately after the procedure intraoperatively. The lesion surface was nonrigidly registered to the postablation image using an initial affine registration followed by nonrigid thin-plate spline registration of the prostate surfaces. The margins between the registered lesion and ablation zone were calculated using a uniform spherical distribution of rays, and the volume of intersection was also calculated. Each prostate was contoured five times to determine the segmentation variability and its effect on intersection of the lesion and ablation zone. RESULTS Our study showed that the boundaries of the segmented tumor and ablation zone were close. Of the 23 lesions that were analyzed, 11 were completely covered by the ablation zone and 12 were partially covered. A shift of 1.0, 2.0, and 2.6 mm would result in 19, 21, and all tumors completely covered by the ablation zone, respectively. The median unablated tumor volume across all tumors was 0.1 mm3 with an IQR of 3.7 mm3 , which was 0.2% of the median tumor volume (46.5 mm3 with an IQR of 46.3 mm3 ). The median extension of the tumors beyond the ablation zone, in cases which were partially ablated, was 0.9 mm (IQR of 1.3 mm), with the furthest tumor extending 2.6 mm. CONCLUSION In all cases, the boundary of the tumor was close to the boundary of the ablation zone, and in some cases, the boundary of the ablation zone did not completely enclose the tumor. Our results suggest that some of the ablations were not clinically successful and that there is a need for more accurate needle tracking and guidance methods. Limitations of the study include errors in the registration and segmentation methods used as well as different voxel sizes and contrast between the registered T2 and T1 MRI sequences and asymmetric swelling of the prostate postprocedurally.

Purpose High spectral and spatial resolution (HiSS) MRI is a spectroscopic imaging method focusing on water and fat resonances that has good diagnostic utility in breast imaging. The purpose of this work was to assess the feasibility and potential utility of HiSS MRI for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Methods HiSS MRI was acquired at 3 T from six patients who underwent prostatectomy, yielding a train of 127 phase-coherent gradient echo (GRE) images. In the temporal domain, changes in voxel intensity were analyzed and linear (R) and quadratic (R1, R2) quantifiers of signal logarithm decay were calculated. In the spectral domain, three signal scaling-independent parameters were calculated: water resonance peak width (PW), relative peak asymmetry (PRA), and relative peak distortion from ideal Lorentzian shape (PRD). Seven cancer and five normal tissue regions of interest were identified in correlation with pathology and compared. Results HiSS-derived quantifiers, except R2, showed high reproducibility (coefficients of variation, 5%-14%). Spectral domain quantifiers performed better than temporal domain quantifiers, with receiver operator characteristic areas under the curve ranging from of 0.83 to 0.91. For temporal domain parameters, the range was 0.74 to 0.91. Low absolute values of the coefficients of correlation between monoexponential decay markers (R, PW) and resonance shape markers (PRA, PRD) were observed (range, 0.23-0.38). Conclusion The feasibility and potential diagnostic utility of HiSS MRI in the prostate at 3 T without an endorectal coil was confirmed. Weak correlation between well-performing markers indicates that complementary information could be leveraged to further improve diagnostic accuracy.

Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging-guided transurethral ultrasound ablation uses directional thermal ultrasound under magnetic resonance imaging thermometry feedback control for prostatic ablation. We report 12-month outcomes from a prospective multicenter trial (TACT). Materials and methods: A total of 115 men with favorable to intermediate risk prostate cancer across 13 centers were treated with whole gland ablation sparing the urethra and apical sphincter. The co-primary 12-month endpoints were safety and efficacy. Results: In all, 72 (63%) had grade group 2 and 77 (67%) had NCCN® intermediate risk disease. Median treatment delivery time was 51 minutes with 98% (IQR 95-99) thermal coverage of target volume and spatial ablation precision of ±1.4 mm on magnetic resonance imaging thermometry. Grade 3 adverse events occurred in 9 (8%) men. The primary endpoint (U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated) of prostate specific antigen reduction ≥75% was achieved in 110 of 115 (96%) with median prostate specific antigen reduction of 95% and nadir of 0.34 ng/ml. Median prostate volume decreased from 37 to 3 cc. Among 68 men with pretreatment grade group 2 disease, 52 (79%) were free of grade group 2 disease on 12-month biopsy. Of 111 men with 12-month biopsy data, 72 (65%) had no evidence of cancer. Erections (International Index of Erectile Function question 2 score 2 or greater) were maintained/regained in 69 of 92 (75%). Multivariate predictors of persistent grade group 2 at 12 months included intraprostatic calcifications at screening, suboptimal magnetic resonance imaging thermal coverage of target volume and a PI-RADS™ 3 or greater lesion at 12-month magnetic resonance imaging (p

Minimally invasive alternatives to traditional prostate surgery are increasingly utilized to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia and localized prostate cancer in select patients. Advantages of these treatments over prostatectomy include lower risk of complication, shorter length of hospital stay, and a more favorable safety profile. Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) has become a widely accepted imaging modality for evaluation of the prostate gland and provides both anatomical and functional information. As prostate mpMRI and minimally invasive prostate procedure volumes increase, it is important for radiologists to be familiar with normal post-procedure imaging findings and potential complications. This paper reviews the indications, procedural concepts, common post-procedure imaging findings, and potential complications of prostatic artery embolization, prostatic urethral lift, irreversible electroporation, photodynamic therapy, high-intensity focused ultrasound, focal cryotherapy, and focal laser ablation.