MONDAY, Dec. 29 (HealthDay News) -- Combining an apparent diffusion coefficient map reading with T2-weighted MRIs improves their diagnostic capability for prostate cancer detection, according to research published in the January issue of Radiology.

Hyun Kyung Lim, M.D., of the University of Ulsan in Seoul, South Korea, and colleagues conducted a retrospective study of 52 patients who underwent endorectal MRI and step-section histologic examination. Three independent readers reviewed T2-weighted images alone, the apparent diffusion coefficient map alone and T2-weighted images combined with the apparent diffusion coefficient map, and scored the probability of prostate cancer in 12 predetermined segments. Comparisons were made by calculating the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC).

The AUC of the T2 images combined with the apparent diffusion coefficient map for each of the three readers (0.90, 0.88, 0.76 for readers 1, 2 and 3, respectively) was significantly higher than the AUC of the T2 images alone (0.79, 0.75, 0.66, respectively), the researchers report. The sensitivity (78 to 88 percent) and accuracy (68 to 88 percent) for the combined T2 images and apparent diffusion coefficient map were also higher than that for the T2 images alone. While this trend was true regardless of reader experience, the accuracy of the AUC for the T2 images and apparent diffusion coefficient map was dependent on the reader's experience, the authors note.

"Our results suggest that both the detection and localization of prostate cancer will improve if this technique is included in the routine MRI protocol," the authors write.

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