Evaluation of Correlation of Ki-67 Factor in Prostate Cancer with Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Index in Multi b-value Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Background: Recent advances in molecular imaging of prostate cancer, including diffusion-weighted imaging, have led to improved cancer screening methods. The Ki-67 biomarker plays an important role in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of prostate cancer. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between apparent diffusion coefficient of diffusion weight imaging with Ki-67 factor. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study on 36 patients with prostate cancer, who underwent radical prostatectomy. All patients underwent diffusion weight imaging before surgery, and Ki-67 factor was evaluated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Statistical analysis was performed to investigate the relationship between apparent diffusion coefficient and Ki-67 factor using SPSS software. Findings: The ki-67 factor was inversely correlated with the apparent diffusion coefficient in peripheral (P < 0.001) and interstitial zone (P = 0.030). Nevertheless, it had a direct relationship with the degree of tumor malignancy (P = 0.035). Conclusion: Apparent diffusion coefficient can be used as a noninvasive criterion for assessing ki-67 and prostate cancer tumor invasion, which is important in diagnosing, grading, and predicting the survival of patients with prostate cancer.