The potential of quantitative synthetic MRI for predicting rectal cancer stage and pathological characteristics

Motivation: Previous studies showed quantitative synthetic MRI (qsMRI) can predict pathological features of various tumors. However, its value for predicting rectal cancer (RC) stage and pathological characteristics remains unclear. Goal(s): Investigating if qsMRI can predict pTN stage and pathological characteristics of RC. Approach: 101 RC patients were enrolled. T1-relaxometry (T1RT), T2-relaxometry (T2RT), and proton density (PD) maps were obtained from qsMRI. The T1RT, T2RT and PD of lesion were analyzed. Results: T1RT was significantly different between pT1-2 and pT3-4, and between pN0 and pN1-2. pN1-2 had significantly higher PD than pN0. The T1RT was significantly superior to subjective assessment for discriminating pN0 from pN1-2. Impact: The standard MRI performs poorly in N staging. Our study showed qsMRI was significantly superior to subjective assessment for differentiating advanced N stage RC patients. Therefore, qsMRI may be used as non-invasive imaging technique for evaluating and managing RC patients.