Semi-automated primary tumor volume measurements by dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI in patients with head and neck cancer

Background: Tumor volume is a significant prognostic factor in the treatment of malignant head and neck tumors. Unfortunately, it is not routinely measured because of the workload involved. Methods: Twenty-one patients, between 2009 and 2010, were studied. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) at 3.0T was performed. A workstation previously developed for semi-automated segmentation of breast cancers on DCE-MRI was used to segment the head and neck cancers. The Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the agreement between volumetric measurements and the manually derived gross tumor volume (GTV). Results: In 90.5% of the patients (19 of 21) correlation could be made between DCE-MRI and the manually derived GTV. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the automatically derived tumor volume at DCE-MRI and the manually derived GTVs was R² = 0.95 (p <.001). Conclusion: Semi-automated tumor volumes on DCE-MRI were representative of those derived from the manually derived GTV (R² = 0.95; p <.001).