Correlation between quantitative perfusion histogram parameters of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI and tumor tissue microvessel density in patients with lung cancer

Objective To investigate the correlation between quantitative perfusion histogram parameters of DCE-MRI and tumor tissue microvessel density(MVD) in patients with lung cancer. Methods 30 patients with lung cancer confirmed by pathology who underwent preoperative DCE-MRI were enrolled in this retrospective study. Quantitative perfusion histogram parameters(including median, mean, skewness, kurtosis, energy, entropy) were measured for each patient using Exchange modle. Using the Immunohistochemical method to detect the expression of CD34 in tumor tissue, and counting the number of microvessels under microscope. SPSS 19.0 was used to carry out statistical analysis. The correlation between MVD and quantitative perfusion histogram parameters of DCE-MRI measured by exchange model was evaluated by Pearson linear correlation analysis. Results There was no significant difference in MVD and each quantitative perfusion histogram parameters between the three different pathological groups of lung cancer(P>0.05). Ktrans perfusion histogram parameters(mean, 25%, 50%, 50%, 75%, 90%, 95%), Kep perfusion histogram parameters(entropy, 10%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 90%), Fp perfusion histogram parameters(mean, 25%, 50%, 75%, 90%, 95%) and Vp perfusion histograms parameters(entropy, 75%, 90%, 95% ) were positively correlated with MVD(P 0.05). Conclusion There was a certain correlation between the perfusion histogram parameters of DCE-MRI and MVD, suggesting that the quantitative perfusion histogram of DCE-MRI in lung cancer can reflect the MVD value of cancer tissue. Key words: Lung cancer; Histogram; Microvessel density; Magnetic resonance imaging