Prognosis prediction of non-enhancing T2 high signal intensity lesions in glioblastoma patients after standard treatment: application of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging

Objectives To identify candidate imaging biomarkers for early disease progression in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) patients by analysis of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MR parameters of non-enhancing T2 high signal intensity (SI) lesions. Methods Forty-nine GBM patients who had undergone preoperative DCE MR imaging and received standard treatment were retrospectively included. According to the Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology criteria, patients were classified into progression ( n = 21) or non-progression ( n = 28) groups. We analysed the pharmacokinetic parameters of Ktrans, Ve and Vp within non-enhancing T2 high SI lesions of each tumour. The best percentiles of each parameter from cumulative histograms were identified by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) and were compared using multivariate stepwise logistic regression. Results For the differentiation of early disease progression, the highest AUC values were found in the 99th percentile of Ktrans (AUC 0.954), the 97th percentile of Ve (AUC 0.815) and the 94th percentile of Vp (AUC 0.786) (all p < 0.05). The 99th percentile of Ktrans was the only significant independent variable from the multivariate stepwise logistic regression ( p = 0.002). Conclusions We found that the Ktrans of non-enhancing T2 high SI lesions in GBM patients holds potential as a candidate prognostic marker in future prospective studies. Key Points • DCE MR imaging provides candidate prognostic marker of GBM after standard treatment. • Cumulative histogram was applied to include entire non-enhancing T2 high SI lesions. • The 99th percentile value of Ktrans was the most likely potential biomarker.