Decomposition of clinical ADC into intracellular and extracellular-extravascular contributions in prostate cancer using histology

Diffusion MRI has shown promising results for characterizing prostate cancer. However, diagnostic clinical apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) has limited specificity and interpretability. Towards addressing these limitations, we aim to unravel clinical ADC into microstructural components using histology. Histology from two prostatectomies with prostate cancer (Gleason 3+4, 4+3) were analysed in benign, inflammation and cancer regions. Cell and tissue properties were used to decouple clinical ADC into intracellular, extracellular-extravascular ADCs. Results revealed significantly low intracellular ADC in cancer. Low ADC was also found for inflammation, which could explain ADC’s low specificity, demonstrating the added value of histology data for clinical ADC.