Perfusion-based functional magnetic resonance imaging for differentiating serous borderline ovarian tumors from early serous ovarian cancers in a rat model

Background Differentiation of borderline tumors from early ovarian cancer has recently received increasing attention, since borderline tumors often affect young women of childbearing age who desire to preserve fertility. However, previous studies have demonstrated that non-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences cannot sufficiently differentiate these tumors. Purpose To investigate the value of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) and intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted imaging (IVIM-DWI) in differentiating serous borderline ovarian tumors (SBOT) from early serous ovarian cancers (eSOCA). Material and Methods Twenty SBOT and 20 eSOCA rat models were performed with DCE-MRI and IVIM-DWI at 3.0-T MR scanner. Qualitative and quantitative parameters of DCE-MRI were acquired and compared between two groups and correlated with the microvessel density (MVD). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses were conducted to determine their differentiating performances. Results SBOTs presented significantly lower values of the initial area under the enhancement curve (iAUC), volume transfer constant (Ktrans), and extracellular extravascular volume fraction (ve) (P