The Diagnostic Accuracy and Postoperative Outcomes of Cervical Cancer Patients for MR-invisible or MR-visible Diagnosis of Combined T2- and Diffusion-weighted 3T MRI Using the External Phased-array Receiver

BACKGROUND/AIM: This study aimed to determine the diagnostic accuracy and postoperative outcomes of early-stage cervical cancer patients [2009 FIGO stages IA2-IB1 (<2 cm)] diagnosed with magnetic resonance (MR)-invisible disease or MR-visible disease using the external phased-array receiver. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Between 2007 and 2014, 110 patients with a FIGO clinical stage IA2-IB1 (<2 cm) cervical cancer underwent primary surgical treatment after external array coil T2W and DW MR imaging following the diagnostic biopsy procedure. RESULTS: The median histological size of MR-invisible vs. MR-visible diagnosis was 3+/-6.4 mm and 16+/-5.2 mm. Eighty-five of the 110 patients had histologically residual tumor. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV of tumor diagnosis were 63.5%, 92.0%, 96.4%, and 42.6%, respectively. Histological estimates of 54 (49.1%) MR-invisible vs. 56 (50.9%) MR-visible diagnoses were identified as 23 true-negative (TN) and 31 false-negative (FN) vs. 54 true-positive (TP) and 2 false-positive (FP). The recurrence-free rate was 98.1% in the MR-invisible group and 91.1% in the MR-visible group. The overall survival rates were 100% and 92.9%, respectively. CONCLUSION: A preoperative MR-invisible diagnosis in early-stage cervical cancer patients led to a high probability of FN and was associated with underdiagnosis.