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Clinical significance of three-dimensional measurement of tumour thickness on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma

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Abstract

Objectives

To identify the clinical significance of primary tumour thickness (TT) and its direction in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC), we measured TT in all axial/coronal/sagittal views on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and evaluated their meaning.

Methods

A total of 53 OTSCC patients were analysed who had undergone preoperative three-dimensional MRI and had been surgically treated. TT measured on axial (mediolateral direction), coronal (superoinferior direction), and sagittal (anteroposterior direction) views was compared to that in pathologic specimens. The association between TT on MRI and other pathologic parameters was also evaluated.

Results

TT on MRI in each plane showed relatively high concordance rates with the histological measurements. TT in all three planes was significantly correlated with lymph node (LN) metastasis. Occult LN metastasis was found in 15 of 39 (38.5 %) patients, and the cutoff value of TT in axial/coronal/sagittal MRI predicting occult LN metastasis was 6.7 mm, 7.2 mm, and 12.3 mm, respectively. TT on MRI did not show any significant association with recurrence and survival.

Conclusions

TT on MRI in all three planes showed relatively high coincidence with TT on histopathology and presented a potential cut-off value as a predictive indicator for occult LN metastasis.

Key Points

• Three-dimensional measurement of tumour thickness (TT) is important for oral cancer treatment.

• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a useful diagnostic tool for oral cancer.

• TT on MRI has a high coincidence with TT on histopathology.

• TT on MRI is a predictive marker for occult lymph node metastasis.

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Abbreviations

AJCC:

American Joint Committee of Cancer

CI:

Confidence interval

CRT:

Chemoradiotherapy

DFS:

Disease-free survival

DOI:

Depth of invasion

DSS:

Disease-specific survival

ETL:

Echo train length

ETM:

Extrinsic tongue muscle

HR:

Hazard ratio

LN:

Lymph node

LVI:

Lymphovascular invasion

NSA:

Number of signal averages

OCC:

Oral cavity cancer

OR:

Odds ratio

OTSCC:

Oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma

PNI:

Perineural invasion

ROC:

Receiver operation characteristic

RT:

Radiotherapy

TE:

Echo time

TNM:

Tumour-Node-Metastasis

TR:

Repetition time

TT:

Tumour thickness

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Acknowledgments

The scientific guarantor of this publication is Prof. Soon Yuhl Nam. The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies, whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article. The authors state that this work has not received any funding. No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained. Written informed consent was waived by the Institutional Review Board. None of the study subjects or cohorts have been previously reported. Methodology: retrospective, diagnostic or prognostic study, performed at one institution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Gyeongsang National University Hospital, School of Medicine, Jinju, Republic of Korea

    Minsu Kwon

  2. Department of Otolaryngology, Asan Medical Centre, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Hyun Moon, Soon Yuhl Nam, Ji Won Kim, Yoon-Se Lee, Jong-Lyel Roh, Seung-Ho Choi & Sang-Yoon Kim

  3. Department of Radiology, Asan Medical Centre, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Jeong Hyun Lee

  4. Biomedical Research Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Sang-Yoon Kim

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  1. Minsu Kwon
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  2. Hyun Moon
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Correspondence to Soon Yuhl Nam.

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Kwon, M., Moon, H., Nam, S.Y. et al. Clinical significance of three-dimensional measurement of tumour thickness on magnetic resonance imaging in patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Eur Radiol 26, 858–865 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-015-3884-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-015-3884-z

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