Assessment of Background Heterogeneity of Prostate Peripheral Zone for Cancer Detectability using Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting

In this pilot study, we assessed the background signal change (BSC) of the prostate peripheral zone based on quantitative T1 and T2 measurement obtained using Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (MRF) and correlated with a previously-developed qualitative BSC score. Our results demonstrate the importance of prostate BSC toward reducing uncertainty in prostate MRI. Compared to the qualitative BSC score, the MRF-derived measurements provide a more reproducible and objective assessment of background heterogeneity of the prostate. BSC scoring has great potential in risk-stratifying patients with incidentally-detected clinically significant prostate cancer and yielding better biopsy decision-making for patients with negative MRI.