Peer-review started: August 24, 2015
First decision: September 30, 2015
Revised: November 10, 2015
Accepted: December 7, 2015
Article in press: December 8, 2015
Published online: January 28, 2016
Processing time: 157 Days and 20 Hours
There is considerable disparity in the published apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values across different anatomies. Institutions are increasingly assessing repeatability and reproducibility of the derived ADC to determine its variation, which could potentially be used as an indicator in determining tumour aggressiveness or assessing tumour response. In this manuscript, a review of selected articles published to date in healthy extra-cranial body diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging is presented, detailing reported ADC values and discussing their variation across different studies. In total 115 studies were selected including 28 for liver parenchyma, 15 for kidney (renal parenchyma), 14 for spleen, 13 for pancreatic body, 6 for gallbladder, 13 for prostate, 13 for uterus (endometrium, myometrium, cervix) and 13 for fibroglandular breast tissue. Median ADC values in selected studies were found to be 1.28 × 10-3 mm2/s in liver, 1.94 × 10-3 mm2/s in kidney, 1.60 × 10-3 mm2/s in pancreatic body, 0.85 × 10-3 mm2/s in spleen, 2.73 × 10-3 mm2/s in gallbladder, 1.64 × 10-3 mm2/s and 1.31 × 10-3 mm2/s in prostate peripheral zone and central gland respectively (combined median value of 1.54×10-3 mm2/s), 1.44 × 10-3 mm2/s in endometrium, 1.53 × 10-3 mm2/s in myometrium, 1.71 × 10-3 mm2/s in cervix and 1.92 × 10-3 mm2/s in breast. In addition, six phantom studies and thirteen in vivo studies were summarized to compare repeatability and reproducibility of the measured ADC. All selected phantom studies demonstrated lower intra-scanner and inter-scanner variation compared to in vivo studies. Based on the findings of this manuscript, it is recommended that protocols need to be optimised for the body part studied and that system-induced variability must be established using a standardized phantom in any clinical study. Reproducibility of the measured ADC must also be assessed in a volunteer population, as variations are far more significant in vivo compared with phantom studies.
Core tip: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was highlighted as a potential cancer imaging biomarker by a team of experts in a report published in 2009. We review the variability of published diffusion values in the major extra-cranial organs and focus on the validation literature, both in vivo and in vitro. A total of 115 studies were selected including for liver parenchyma, kidney, pancreatic body, spleen, gallbladder, prostate, uterus (endometrium, myometrium, cervix) and breast. We also look in detail at the published repeatability and reproducibility studies, both in vivo and in phantoms. A series of recommendations based on our findings are given at the end of this review.