Time-Dependent Diffusion MRI for Characterizing Microstructural Mapping of Prostate cancer Located in the Transition Zone

Motivation: Time-dependent diffusion MRI (td-dMRI) has the potential to characterize the microstructure mapping of tissue in vivo. Goal(s): Whether it can benefit accurate and accessible risk stratification for prostate cancer especially in trasition zone has not been established. Approach: In this study, patients who underwent prostate MRI including td-dMRI were enrolled. Correlation between the td-dMRI-based microstructural parameters and International Society of Urological Pathology grade groups (ISUP GG) were investigated and their performance in discriminating clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) from indolent disease was also evaluated. Results: The results showed that Td-dMRI measurements has good differential diagnostic power, and cellularity achieved the highest diagnostic performance. Impact: Time-dependent diffusion MRI–derived microstructural parameters showed high discrimination between clinically significant prostate cancer from indolent disease in the transition zone, which might thereby add an extra dimension in the development of prostate cancer biomarkers.