Diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI in lung cancers: ADC test-retest repeatability

Purpose: To determine the test-retest repeatability of Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) measurements across institutions and MRI vendors, plus investigate the effect of post-processing methodology on measurement precision.

Methods: Thirty malignant lung lesions >2 cm in size (23 patients) were scanned on two occasions, using echo-planar-Diffusion-Weighted (DW)-MRI to derive whole-tumour ADC (b = 100, 500 and 800smm^-2). Scanning was performed at 4 institutions (3 MRI vendors). Whole-tumour volumes-of-interest were copied from first visit onto second visit images and from one post-processing platform to an open-source platform, to assess ADC repeatability and cross-platform reproducibility.

Results: Whole-tumour ADC values ranged from 0.66-1.94x10^-3mm²s^-1 (mean = 1.14). Within-patient coefficient-of-variation (wCV) was 7.1% (95% CI 5.7-9.6%), limits-of-agreement (LoA) -18.0 to 21.9%. Lesions >3 cm had improved repeatability: wCV 3.9% (95% CI 2.9-5.9%); and LoA -10.2 to 11.4%. Variability for lesions <3 cm was 2.46 times higher. ADC reproducibility across different post-processing platforms was excellent: Pearson's R² = 0.99; CoV 2.8% (95% CI 2.3-3.4%); and LoA -7.4 to 8.0%.

Conclusion: A free-breathing DW-MRI protocol for imaging malignant lung tumours achieved satisfactory within-patient repeatability and was robust to changes in post-processing software, justifying its use in multi-centre trials. For response evaluation in individual patients, a change in ADC >21.9% will reflect treatment-related change.

Key points: • In lung cancer, free-breathing DWI-MRI produces acceptable images with evaluable ADC measurement. • ADC repeatability coefficient-of-variation is 7.1% for lung tumours >2 cm. • ADC repeatability coefficient-of-variation is 3.9% for lung tumours >3 cm. • ADC measurement precision is unaffected by the post-processing software used. • In multicentre trials, 22% increase in ADC indicates positive treatment response.