Abstract
The purpose of our study was to evaluate the usefulness of diffusion-weighted imaging in predicting the responses to neoadjuvant therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Diffusion-weighted, T2-weighted, and gadolinium-enhanced T1-weighted images were obtained from 28 patients with untreated head and neck squamous cell carcinomas with histological proof. A blinded radiologist evaluated the quantitative and qualitative signal intensities and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) in the lesions on each sequence. All patients were treated by neoadjuvant therapies, and the post-therapeutic tumor regression rate was determined. Both the quantitative and qualitative signal intensities on diffusion-weighted images showed positive correlations (r = 0.367 and 0.412, p < .05), and the ADCs showed a weak, inversed correlation (r = −0.384, p < .05) with the tumor regression rates. Diffusion-weighted imaging including an assessment by ADCs may be able to predict tumor response to neoadjuvant therapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.
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Kato, H., Kanematsu, M., Tanaka, O. et al. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: usefulness of diffusion-weighted MR imaging in the prediction of a neoadjuvant therapeutic effect. Eur Radiol 19, 103–109 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-008-1108-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-008-1108-5