Value of blood oxygenation level-dependent MRI for predicting clinical outcomes in uterine cervical cancer treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy

Objectives To investigate the value of blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI as a predictor of clinical outcomes in cervical cancer patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT). Method Enrolled 92 patients with stage IB2-IVB cervical cancer who received CCRT underwent 3-T BOLD MRI before treatment. The R2* value (rate of spin dephasing, s(-1)) was measured in the tumor. Cox regression analysis was used to evaluate the associations of imaging and clinical parameters with progression-free survival (PFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS). Inter-reader reliability for the R2* measurements was evaluated using an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Results Tumor R2* values were significantly different between patients with and without disease progression (p < 0.001). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that tumor R2* value was significantly independent factor for PFS (hazard ratio [HR] = 5.746, p < 0.001) and CSS (HR = 12.878, p = 0.001). Additionally, squamous cell carcinoma antigen (HR = 1.027, p = 0.001) was significantly independent factor for PFS. Inter-reader reliability for the R2* measurements was good (ICC = 0.702). Conclusion Pretreatment 3-T BOLD MRI may be useful for predicting clinical outcomes in uterine cervical cancer patients treated with CCRT, with good inter-reader reliability.