Morphological, Functional and Texture Analysis Magnetic Resonance Imaging Features in the Assessment of Radiotherapy-Induced Xerostomia in Oropharyngeal Cancer

Abstract

The aim of this single-center, observational, retrospective study was to investigate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarkers for the assessment of radiotherapy (RT)-induced xerostomia. Twenty-seven patients who underwent radiation therapy for oropharyngeal cancer were divided into three groups according to the severity of their xerostomia—mild, moderate, and severe—clinically confirmed with the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE). No severe xerostomia was found. Conventional and functional MRI (perfusion- and diffusion- weighted imaging) performed both pre- and post-RT were studied for signal intensity, mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values, k-trans, and area under the perfusion curves. Contrast-enhanced T1 images and ADC maps were imported into 3D slicer software, and salivary gland volumes were segmented. A total of 107 texture features were derived. T-Student and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were performed on functional MRI parameters and texture analysis features to identify the differences between pre- and post-RT populations. A p-value 0.7). Values lower than the cut-off of −1.473 × 10−11 were associated with moderate xerostomia, enabling the differentiation of mild xerostomia from moderate xerostomia with a 73% sensitivity, 75% specificity, and 75% diagnostic accuracy. Therefore, the texture feature IMC 1 on the ADC maps allowed the distinction between different degrees of severity of RT-induced xerostomia in the pre-RT population. Accordingly, texture analysis on ADC maps should be considered a useful tool to evaluate salivary gland radiosensitivity and help identify patients at risk of developing more serious xerostomia before radiation therapy is administered.

Keywords

• xerostomia
• magnetic resonance imaging
• texture analysis
• radiomics
• head and neck