Clinical significance of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging in evaluating tumor angiogenesis of non-small cell lung cancer

Objective To evaluate tumor angiogenesis and clinical significance by dynamic contrast-enhanced(DCE) MR imaging in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods Thirty-three consecutive patients firstly found mass by plain film or CT were examined with non-contrast conventional MR imaging,dynamic contrastenhanced scan.Vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) was stained with immuno-histochemical technique in thirty-three NSCLC cases diagnosed surgically and pathologically.Some parameters of DCE MRI,the maximum slope(Smax),the time to peak(TTP),VEGF expression and lymphnode metastases were compared.Results In 33 NSCLC patients,Smax was(1.40±0.50),and TTP was(143.00±35.50)s.Smax in stage Ⅰ was lower than that in stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ [(1.21±0.30)s vs(1.97±0.70)s and(2.14±0.69)s,P0.01)],but TTP in stage Ⅰ was [(187.50±28.96)s,which was later than that in stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ [(96.00±16.12)s and(90.5±22.55)s,P0.05].In thirty-three NSCLC,twenty-two patients were VEGF positive expressions and eleven were negative.VEGF expression levels in patients with NSCLC in stage Ⅱ and Ⅲ were higher,but TTP was lower than those in stage(P0.01 and P0.05).The VEGF expression of tumor was positively correlated with the Smax(P0.01),but negatively correlated with the TTP(P0.01).Conclusion Parameters of DCE MRI,especially Smax and TTP,can reflect tumor angiogenesis and correlate to lymph-node metastasis closely,which are beneficial to staging the lung cancer and serving as a supplement to the current staging system for NSCLC in biological behaviour.