Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Value as a Biomarker for Detecting Muscle-Invasive and High-Grade Bladder Cancer: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: Several studies have investigated the potential role of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging as a biomarker of high-grade and invasive bladder cancer. Methods: PubMed and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched in September 2021 to extract studies that evaluated the associations between ADC values, pathological T stage, and histological grade bladder cancers. The diagnostic performance of ADC values in detecting muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and high-grade disease was systematically reviewed. Results: Six studies were included in this systematic review. MIBC showed significantly lower ADC values than non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) in all six studies. The median (range) sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) of ADC values to detect MIBC among the four eligible studies were 73.5% (68.8–90.0%), 79.9% (66.7–84.4%), and 0.762 (0.730–0.884), respectively. Similarly, high-grade disease showed significantly lower ADC values than did low-grade disease in all four eligible studies. The median (range) sensitivity, specificity, and AUC of ADC values for detecting high-grade disease among the three eligible studies were 75.0% (73.0–76.5%), 95.8% (76.2–100%), and 0.902 (0.804–0.906), respectively. Conclusions: The ADC value is a non-invasive diagnostic biomarker for discriminating muscle-invasive and high-grade bladder cancer.

Keywords

• apparent diffusion coefficient
• bladder cancer
• diffusion magnetic resonance imaging
• neoplasm grading
• neoplasm staging