Application of Distributed Parameter Model to Assessment of Glioma IDH Mutation Status by Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

Yanxi Li,Yizhen Zeng,Mattia Veronese,Zongfang Li,Zhuo Zhang,Jingzhong Zhang,Tong San Koh,Bo He,Zujun Hou,Wei Zhao

doi:10.1155/2020/8843084

Abstract

Previous studies using contrast-enhanced imaging for glioma isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation assessment showed promising yet inconsistent results, and this study attempts to explore this problem by using an advanced tracer kinetic model, the distributed parameter model (DP). Fifty-five patients with glioma examined using dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging sequence at a 3.0 T scanner were retrospectively reviewed. The imaging data were processed using DP, yielding the following parameters: blood flow F, permeability-surface area product PS, fractional volume of interstitial space Ve, fractional volume of intravascular space Vp, and extraction ratio E. The results were compared with the Tofts model. The Wilcoxon test and boxplot were utilized for assessment of differences of model parameters between IDH-mutant and IDH-wildtype gliomas. Spearman correlation r was employed to investigate the relationship between DP and Tofts parameters. Diagnostic performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and quantified using the area under the ROC curve (AUC). Results showed that IDH-mutant gliomas were significantly lower in F (P = 0.018), PS (P < 0.001), Vp (P < 0.001), E (P < 0.001), and Ve (P = 0.002) than IDH-wildtype gliomas. In differentiating IDH-mutant and IDH-wildtype gliomas, Vp had the best performance (AUC = 0.92), and the AUCs of PS and E were 0.82 and 0.80, respectively. In comparison, Tofts parameters were lower in Ktrans (P = 0.013) and Ve (P < 0.001) for IDH-mutant gliomas. No significant difference was observed in Kep (P = 0.525). The AUCs of Ktrans, Ve, and Kep were 0.69, 0.79, and 0.55, respectively. Tofts-derived Ve showed a strong correlation with DP-derived Ve (r > 0.9, P < 0.001). Ktrans showed a weak correlation with F (r < 0.3, P > 0.16) and a very weak correlation with PS (r < 0.06, P > 0.8), both of which were not statistically significant. The findings by DP revealed a tissue environment with lower vascularity, lower vessel permeability, and lower blood flow in IDH-mutant than in IDH-wildtype gliomas, being hostile to cellular differentiation of oncogenic effects in IDH-mutated gliomas, which might help to explain the better outcomes in IDH-mutated glioma patients than in glioma patients of IDH-wildtype. The advantage of DP over Tofts in glioma DCE data analysis was demonstrated in terms of clearer elucidation of tissue microenvironment and better performance in IDH mutation assessment.

Highlights

As the most common primary tumor in the brain, diffuse glioma arises from the glial cells which provide support functions to neurons and presents with high morbidity and variable outcomes [1]. e 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumors of the central nervous system included well-established molecular signatures, such as isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status, expression of the transcription regulator ATRX, and 1p/19q codeletion status [2], where IDH is a small molecule protein involved in a number of cellular processes, including mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, glutamine metabolism, lipogenesis, glucose sensing, and regulation of cellular redox status [3,4,5]
State-of-the-arts in dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tracer kinetic modeling were applied to the differentiation of IDH-mutant from IDH-wildtype gliomas. e former was found to be characterized with lower blood flow, lower permeability, lower Vp, and lower Ve. e advanced tracer kinetic modeling technique was compared with the conventional Tofts model
Tumor hypoxia leads to increased expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), which in turn mediates an increase in the vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular permeability factor (VEGF/VPF) [37, 38] that stimulates the growth of new, immature, leaky blood vessels

Summary

Introduction

As the most common primary tumor in the brain, diffuse glioma arises from the glial cells which provide support functions to neurons and presents with high morbidity and variable outcomes [1]. e 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumors of the central nervous system included well-established molecular signatures, such as isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation status, expression of the transcription regulator ATRX, and 1p/19q codeletion status [2], where IDH is a small molecule protein involved in a number of cellular processes, including mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, glutamine metabolism, lipogenesis, glucose sensing, and regulation of cellular redox status [3,4,5]. IDH mutations could serve as an ideal target of therapy, and imaging parameters are highly potential to capture the biologic complexity underlying molecular phenotypes in gliomas. Noninvasive detection of IDH mutation status using functional imaging methods has received increasing attention [13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. An important functional imaging method is contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which includes T1-weighted dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging (DCE) and T2weighted dynamic susceptibility contrast-enhanced imaging (DSC), both of which have been applied to IDH mutation assessment in gliomas [20,21,22,23,24,25]

Methods

Results

Conclusion