Differentiation of early gastric cancer with ulceration and resectable advanced gastric cancer using multiphasic dynamic multidetector CT.

OBJECTIVES

Early gastric cancer with ulceration (EGC-U) mimics advanced gastric cancer (AGC), as EGC-Us and ACGs often have similar endoscopic appearance to ulceration. The purpose of this retrospective study was to determine whether multiphasic dynamic multidetector CT (MDCT) can help differentiate EGC-Us from AGCs.

METHODS

Patients with EGC-Us with ulcer stages Ul-III or IV and AGCs with tumour stages T2 to T4a were enrolled. MDCT images were obtained 40 s (arterial phase), 70 s (portal phase) and 240 s (delayed phase) after injection of non-ionic contrast material. Two readers independently measured the attenuation values of the lesions by placing regions of interest. We compared the EGC-Us and AGCs using the mean attenuation values in each phase and peak enhancement phase. We analysed the diagnostic performance of CT for differentiating EGC-Us from AGCs.

RESULTS

Forty cases (16 EGC-Us and 24 AGCs) were analysed. The mean attenuation values of the EGC-Us were significantly lower than those of the AGCs in both the arterial and portal phases (all p < 0.0001 for each reader). The peak enhancement was significantly different between the EGC-Us and AGCs for both readers (Reader 1, p = 0.0131; Reader 2, p = 0.0006).

CONCLUSION

Multiphasic dynamic contrast-enhanced MDCT can help differentiate EGC-Us from AGCs.

KEY POINTS

• Early gastric cancer with ulceration and advanced gastric cancer have similar endoscopic appearances. • EGC-U shows significantly lower attenuation values in both arterial and portal phases. • Multiphasic dynamic contrast-enhanced MDCT differentiates EGC-U from AGC.