Preliminary MRI Study of Extracellular Volume Fraction for Identification of Lymphovascular Space Invasion of Cervical Cancer

Background Lymphovascular space invasion (LVSI) is a risk factor for poor prognosis of cervical cancer. Preoperative identification of LVSI is very difficult. Purpose To evaluate the potential of extracellular volume (ECV) fraction based on T1 mapping in preoperative identification of LVSI in cervical cancer compared with dynamic contrast‐enhanced MRI (DCE‐MRI). Study Type Retrospective. Subjects A total of 79 patients (median age 54 years) with cervical cancer were classified into LVSI group ( n = 29) and without LVSI group ( n = 50) according to postoperative pathology. Field Strength/Sequence A 3‐T, noncontrast and contrast‐enhanced T1 mapping performed with volume interpolated breath hold examination (VIBE) sequence, DCE‐MRI applied with 3D T1‐weighted VIBE sequence. Assessment Regions of interest along the medial edge of the lesion were drawn on slices depicting the maximum cross‐section of the tumor. The noncontrast and contrast‐enhanced T1 value of the tumor and arteries in the same slice were measured, and ECV was calculated from T1 values. The parametric maps ( K trans , k ep , and v e ) derived from DCE‐MRI standard Toft's model were evaluated. Statistical Tests ECV, K trans , k ep , and v e between groups with and without LVSI were compared using Student's t ‐test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and DeLong test were used to evaluate and compare the diagnostic performance of ECV, K trans , k ep , and v e for differentiating LVSI. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The ECV and K trans of the LVSI group were significantly higher than that of non‐LVSI group (52.86% vs. 36.77%, 0.239 vs. 0.176, respectively), and no significant differences in K ep or v e values were observed ( P = 0.071 and P = 0.168, respectively). The ECV fraction showed significantly higher area under ROC curve than K trans for differentiating LVSI (0.874 vs. 0.655, respectively). Data Conclusion ECV measurements based on T1 mapping might improve the discrimination between patients with and without LVSI in cervical cancer, showing better performance for this purpose than DCE‐MRI. Evidence Level 2 Technical Efficacy Stage 2