The Preliminary Application of Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping in the T Staging of Rectal Cancer

Motivation: The T staging of rectal cancer mainly relies on high-resolution T2-weighted MRI sequences. However, there are cases of both over-staging and under-staging. Goal(s): To investigate the preliminary application value of quantitative susceptibility mapping in the T staging of rectal cancer. Approach: In addition to the conventional scanning sequences, horizontal axial T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) and QSM sequences were acquired. The tumor segmentation was done with reference to T2WI images at the QSM-weighted image. The magnetic susceptibility histogram data of tumor tissues were calculated with FireVoxel build 394D software. Results: The differences of magnetic susceptibility histogram parameters in different T-stage rectal cancer were statistically significant. Impact: Quantitative susceptibility histogram shows promise in aiding the T staging of rectal cancer.