Prognostic Value of the Pretreatment Primary Lesion Quantitative Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Abstract

Early identifying the long-term outcome of chemoradiotherapy is helpful for personalized treatment in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). This study aimed to investigate the prognostic significance of pretreatment quantitative dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) for NPC. The relationships between the prognosis and pretreatment quantitative DCE-MRI (Ktrans, Kep, Ve, and fpv) values of the primary tumors were analyzed in 134 NPC patients who received chemoradiotherapy. Kaplan-Meier analysis was performed to calculate the local-regional relapse-free survival (LRRFS), local relapse-free survival (LRFS), regional relapse-free survival, distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), progression-free survival, and overall survival rates. Cox proportional hazards model was used to explore the independent predictors for prognosis. The local-failure group had significantly higher Ve (p = 0.033) and fpv values (p = 0.005) than the non-local-failure group. The Ve-high group showed significantly lower LRRFS (p = 0.015) , LRFS (p = 0.013) , DMFS (p = 0.027) and progression-free survival (p = 0.035) rates than the Ve-low group. The fpv-high group exhibited significantly lower LRRFS (p = 0.004) and LRFS (p = 0.005) rates than the fpv-low group. Ve was the independent predictor for LRRFS (p = 0.008), LRFS (p = 0.007), DMFS (p = 0.041), and overall survival (p = 0.022). fpv was the independent indicator for LRRFS (p = 0.003) and LRFS (p = 0.001). Baseline quantitative DCE-MRI may be valuable in predicting the prognosis for NPC.