Time-dependent diffusion MRI for grading uterine cervical carcinoma based on whole tumor volume: A preliminary study

Motivation: Cervical cancer(CC) remains a significant health burden for women globally. And histological grade is one of the most common prognostic factors. The ADC can reflect tissue cellularity which has been widely used to study tumor grades in CC, which, however, can only describe the overall water diffusion rate and can not provide specific cell microstructural information about histological features. Goal(s): Recently, time-dependent diffusion MRI has potential in delineating cellular microstructures by analyzing diffusion signals at multiple diffusion times. Approach: The time-dependent diffusion MRI parameters were compared between tumor grades of CC. Results: These parameters demonstrated good performance in identifying tumor grade for CC. Impact: Time-dependent diffusion MRI, as a non-invasive technique, could provide cell microstructure parameters for differentiating tumor grade of CC from a histological point of view, which may further assist in preoperative clinical decision-making and prognosis prediction for CC.