A study on diagnostic efficacy of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging combined with diffusion-weighted imaging in patients with prostate cancer

Background: This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and their combination in prostate cancer patients. Methods: 134 patients with prostatic diseases (61 cases with benign prostatic hyperplasia and 73 cases with prostate cancer) admitted to our hospital from February 2022 to February 2024 were retrospectively analyzed. DCE-MRI and DWI were performed. A comparison was made between both groups based on needle biopsy results, DWI index, DCE-MRI index, detection results and diagnostic efficacy. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to examine diagnostic performance differences between different diagnostic methods. Results: In the prostate cancer group, DWI high signal ratio, volume transfer constant (Ktrans) and rate constant (Kep) were significantly higher, while in the DWI group slightly high signal intensity, low mixed signal ratio and extravascular extracellular volume fraction (Ve) were lower (p < 0.05). DCE-MRI and DWI combined had the largest area under the curve (AUC) on the ROC curve (p < 0.05). Conclusions: A combination of DCE-MRI and DWI for prostate cancer results yielded significantly higher diagnostic accuracy than either modality alone. Clinically, this combined approach can guide prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment with significant clinical value.

DCE-MRI; DWI; Combined examination; Prostate cancer; Diagnosis

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