Application of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging to predict the intracranial metastatic tumor response to gamma knife radiosurgery.

To evaluate the effect of stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) on intracranial metastases with diffusion-weighted imaging/apparent diffusion coefficient maps. A total of 107 patients with 144 metastases larger than 1 cm in diameter were retrospectively reviewed. We calculated the DWI(Tumor/white matter) ratios (DWI(T/WM) ratio) between the metastases and the normal, contralateral frontal white matter at each time point. We also recorded the ADC values for metastases (ADCT values). The DWI(T/WM) ratio and ADCT values were assessed for correlation with the patients' tumor response, brain edema, and survival. A decrease in DWI(T/WM) ratios was seen in the controlled metastases, and an increase in the DWI(T/WM) ratio were seen in the metastases with poor tumor control. On the other hand, an increase in ADCT values was seen in the controlled metastases, and a decrease in ADCT values was seen in the metastases with poor control. The differences were significant (p value: 0.001 and 0.002, respectively). Sensitivity of a decrease in the DWI(T/WM) ratio to make an early prediction of tumor control was 83.9%, and specificity was 88.5%. When using the initial ADCT values of metastases to predict tumor response, sensitivity and specificity were 85.5 and 72.7%, respectively. DWI/ADC is a practical method for studying the efficacy of SRS and predicting early metastases response progression. A decrease signal on DWI and increased ADC values are indicators of good tumor control, and reflect the beneficial effect of SRS.