Purpose: To evaluate diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) imaging for detecting tumor necrosis in an animal model of osteogenic sarcoma.
Materials and methods: Twelve rats with osteogenic sarcoma underwent T1-weighted unenhanced and gadolinium-enhanced spin-echo and diffusion-weighted spin-echo MR imaging. Histologic correlation was performed. Signal intensities, T2 relaxation times, normalized apparent diffusion coefficients, and relative signal intensity increases were calculated.
Results: On diffusion-weighted images, necrotic tumor showed low signal intensity (mean normalized apparent diffusion coefficient, 0.46 +/- 0.20 [1 standard deviation]), indicating rapid diffusion of water molecules as a result of loss of membrane integrity, while viable tumor showed high signal intensity (mean normalized apparent diffusion coefficient, 0.16 +/- 0.05; P < .0001). Differences in the T2 relaxation times and relative signal intensity increases between viable and necrotic tumor were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: Normalized apparent diffusion coefficients are more accurate in differentiating between viable and necrotic tumor than are T2 relaxation times or relative signal intensity increases on contrast-enhanced images. Signal intensity overlap between viable and necrotic tumor on gadolinium-enhanced images may be caused by the small molecular size of the agent, which permeates the interstitial space freely, thereby also enhancing necrosis. Diffusion-weighted MR imaging depicts differences in diffusion and, ultimately, in membrane integrity between viable and necrotic tumor and may be used to monitor tumor viability during treatment.