Preliminary Application of Intravoxel Incoherent Motion Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in Diagnosing Lung Cancer

This study investigated the diagnostic value of intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging in the diagnosis of lung cancer with different pathological types. A total of 45 lung cancer patients were examined by routine magnetic resonance sequence and multi-b value diffusion-weighted imaging scanning. The slow apparent diffusion coefficient, fast apparent diffusion coefficient, and related ratio of fast diffusion were obtained by post-processing and then analyzed for statistical differences among lung cancers with different pathological types, as well as for correlations with a marker of squamous cell carcinoma, SCC-Ag. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to determine the diagnostic effectiveness of different parameters. The 45 lung cancer cases included non-small cell lung cancer in 27 cases (13 cases of squamous cell carcinoma and 14 cases of adenocarcinoma) and small cell lung cancer in 18 cases. The slow apparent diffusion coefficient in the small cell lung cancer group was significantly different from that of the non-small cell lung cancer (P = 0.00), adenocarcinoma (P = 0.03), and squamous cell carcinoma groups (P = 0.01). There were no significant differences in fast apparent diffusion coefficient or ratio of fast diffusion among the groups. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the slow apparent diffusion coefficient value was 0.874. There was a negative correlation between the level of SCC-Ag and the slow apparent diffusion coefficient value in the squamous cell carcinoma group (r = –0.730). The slow apparent diffusion coefficient value in intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging was effective in differentiating and diagnosing lung cancer of different pathological types. There were correlations between the level of SCC-Ag and slow apparent diffusion coefficient, which may facilitate the diagnosis of lung cancer with different pathological types in some contexts.