The value of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging in the prognostic judgment of prostate cancer

Both the Gleason grading system, which assesses prostate cancer aggressiveness, and the D’Amico risk classification, which predicts the likelihood of tumor recurrence, require post-surgical data to provide results. This highlights the significant research need for non-invasive methods of preoperative prediction of tumor aggressiveness and recurrence risk. To help fill this need, we investigated the correlation between various multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) parameters and the ISUP 2014 Gleason grade group and D’Amico risk classification for prostate cancer. We prospectively collected pelvic mpMRI data from 561 patients who presented with elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels at our hospital. After we semi-quantitatively scored primary prostate lesions on a five-point scale according to the PI-RADS v2.1 standard, we post-processed diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) images to quantitatively measure the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of the primary lesions. We then calculated Kendall’s tau-b correlation coefficients to assess correlations between the above MR parameters and the ISUP 2014 Gleason grade group and D’Amico risk classification. Our analysis indicates that several mpMRI parameters are correlated with the International Society of Urologic Pathologists (ISUP) 2014 Gleason grade group and the D’Amico risk classification in prostate cancer. In particular, ADC values and PI-RADS scores show strong correlations with the ISUP 2014 Gleason grade group. mpMRI parameters may serve as non-invasive surrogate markers, aiding in preoperative risk stratification for prostate cancer.