Diffusion-weighted Imaging as a Treatment Response Biomarker for Evaluating Bone Metastases in Prostate Cancer: A Pilot Study

Purpose: To determine the usefulness of whole-body diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to assess the response of bone metastases to treatment in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Materials and Methods: A phase II prospective clinical trial of the poly-(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase inhibitor olaparib in mCRPC included a prospective magnetic resonance (MR) imaging substudy; the study was approved by the institutional research board, and written informed consent was obtained. Whole-body DWI was performed at baseline and after 12 weeks of olaparib administration by using 1.5-T MR imaging. Areas of abnormal signal intensity on DWI images in keeping with bone metastases were delineated to derive total diffusion volume (tDV); five target lesions were also evaluated. Associations of changes in volume of bone metastases and median apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) with response to treatment were assessed by using the Mann-Whitney test and logistic regression; correlation with prostate-specific antigen level and circulating tumor cell count were assessed by using Spearman correlation (r). Results: Twenty-one patients were included. All six responders to olaparib showed a decrease in tDV, while no decrease was observed in all nonresponders; this difference between responders and nonresponders was significant (P = .001). Increases in median ADC were associated with increased odds of response (odds ratio, 1.08; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00, 1.15; P = .04). A positive association was detected between changes in tDV and best percentage change in prostate-specific antigen level and circulating tumor cell count (r = 0.63 [95% CI: 0.27, 0.83] and r = 0.77 [95% CI: 0.51, 0.90], respectively). When assessing five target lesions, decreases in volume were associated with response (odds ratio for volume increase, 0.89; 95% CI: 0.80, 0.99; P = .037). Conclusion: This pilot study showed that decreases in volume and increases in median ADC of bone metastases assessed with whole-body DWI can potentially be used as indicators of response to olaparib in mCRPC. Published under a CC BY 4.0 license.