Suspicious lung lesions for malignancy: the lesion-to-spinal cord signal intensity ratio in T2WI and DWI–MRI versus PET/CT; a prospective pathologic correlated study with accuracy and ROC analyses

Abstract

Abstract Background The multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) and tissue biopsy are the gold standards for the evaluation of lung malignancies. However, there is a wide range of pulmonary indeterminate lesions that could mimic lung cancer. Furthermore, the diagnosis of malignancy could be challenging if the lesion is small and early presenting by a part-solid or ground-glass nodule or if surrounded by parenchymal lung reaction with consolidation and atelectasis. The previous literature focused on the role of diffusion-weighted image–magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) mapping in the evaluation of lung malignancy. A novel quantitative T2 assessment is provided and tested in this study. Aim of the work: To evaluate the accuracy of specific non-invasive quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) parameters in the characterization of suspicious lung lesions and the discrimination between the malignant and benign nature. They included the lesion-to-spinal cord signal intensity ratio in T2-WI and DWI as well as the mean and minimum apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values. This is performed using a prospective pathologic correlated study with receiver-operating characteristics (ROC) analysis and comparison with positron emission tomography (PET-CT) accuracy results. Results This study was prospectively performed during the period between June/2021 and June/2022. It was conducted on 43 suspicious lung lesions detected by MDCT. MRI and PET/CT examinations were performed for all patients, and the results were compared to the final diagnosis obtained after biopsy and pathological assessment, using the statistical tests of significance and P-value. Cutoff values were automatically calculated, and then, accuracy tests and ROC analyses were performed. Five expert radiologists and a single consulting pulmonologist participated in this study. The inter-rater reliability ranges between good and excellent with the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) ranging between 0.85 and 0.94. In T2-WI: The lesion-to-spinal cord signal intensity ratio was higher in the malignant group (1.35 ± 0.29) than in the benign group (0.88 ± 0.40), (P < 0.001). At the estimated cutoff value (> 1), the sensitivity was 96.43%, the specificity was 80.00%, and AUC = 0.86. In b500-DWI: The lesion-to-spinal cord signal intensity ratio was higher in the malignant group (0.70–1.35) than in the benign group (0.20–0.70) (P < 0.001). At the estimated cutoff value (> 0.7), the sensitivity was 71.43%, the specificity was 86.67%, and AUC = 0.86. The mean and minimum ADC values were lower in the malignant group (0.6–1.3 and 0.3–1.1 × 10–3 mm2/s) than the benign group (1–1.6 and 0.7–1.4 × 10–3 mm2/s), (P < 0.01 and < 0.001, respectively). At their estimated cutoff values (≤ 1.2 and ≤ 0.9 × 10–3 mm2/s, respectively), the sensitivity was (71.4 and 85.7%), specificity was (83.3 and 66.7%), respectively, and AUC = 0.77 for both. PET/CT had 96.4% sensitivity, 92.3% specificity, and AUC = 0.94. Conclusions PET-CT remains the most specific and sensitive tool for the differentiation between benign and malignant lesions. The lesion-to-cord signal intensity ratios in T2WI and DWI-MRI and to a minor extent the mean and minimum ADC values are also considered good parameters for this differentiation based on their accurate statistical results, particularly if PET/CT was not available or feasible. The study added to the previous literature a novel quantitative T2WI assessment which proved a high sensitivity equal to PET/CT with a lower but a good specificity. The availability, expertise, time factor, and patients' tolerance remain challenging factors for MRI.