Whole-Lesion Histogram Analysis of Apparent Diffusion Coefficient for the Assessment of Cervical Cancer

Objective The aim of this study was to explore the application of whole-lesion histogram analysis of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of cervical cancer. Methods A total of 54 women (mean age, 53 years) with cervical cancers underwent 3-T diffusion-weighted imaging with b values of 0 and 800 s/mm(2) prospectively. Whole-lesion histogram analysis of ADC values was performed. Paired sample t test was used to compare differences in ADC histogram parameters between cervical cancers and normal cervical tissues. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed to identify the optimal threshold of each parameter. Results All histogram parameters in this study including ADC(mean), ADC(min), ADC(10%)-ADC(90%), mode, skewness, and kurtosis of cervical cancers were significantly lower than those of normal cervical tissues (all P < 0.0001). ADC(90%) had the largest area under receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.996. Conclusions Whole-lesion histogram analysis of ADC maps is useful in the assessment of cervical cancer.