From the Department of Radiology and Center for Imaging Science, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea (T.W.K., Y.K.K., S.H.K.); Department of Cancer Biomedical Science, National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, Goyang, South Korea (S.Y.K., E.S.L., S.M.W.); Department of Laboratory Medicine, Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang, South Korea (S.Y.K.); Department of Clinical Research Design and Evaluation, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, South Korea (D.K., E.G., J.C.); Center for Clinical Epidemiology, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea (D.K., M.W.K., E.G., J.C.); Department of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea (D.H.S.); National Cancer Control Institute, National Cancer Center, Goyang, South Korea (Y.A.K., K.S.C.); Department of Cancer Control and Population Health, National Cancer Center Graduate School of Cancer Science and Policy, National Cancer Center, Goyang, South Korea (K.S.C.); Center for Breast Cancer, Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang, South Korea (E.S.L.); Center for Liver Cancer, Hospital, National Cancer Center, Goyang, South Korea (S.M.W.); Health Insurance Policy Research Institute, National Health Insurance Service, Wonju, South Korea (J.H.B.); and Department of Epidemiology, and Welch Center for Epidemiology, Prevention, and Clinical Research, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2024 E Monument St, Baltimore, MD 21205 (E.G., J.C.).
Radiology. 2020 Apr;295(1):114-124. doi: 10.1148/radiol.2020190639. Epub 2020 Feb 4.
Background The impact on survival of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI in addition to multiphase contrast material-enhanced CT for initial staging in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unknown. Purpose To compare all-cause mortality in patients with HCC who underwent CT only, CT plus non-gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI, or CT plus gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI as part of their initial diagnostic work-up. Materials and Methods The authors performed a nationwide retrospective cohort study of patients diagnosed with HCC in South Korea between January 2008 and December 2010. Follow-up extended through December 2014. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality. Cox proportional hazards regression model with adjustment of confounding factors was used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) for all-cause mortality. Results Among 30 023 patients with HCC (mean age ± standard deviation, 58.5 years ± 10.7, 23 978 men), the proportions of patients in whom HCC was diagnosed using CT only, CT plus non-gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI, and CT plus gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI were 56.1%, 12.9%, and 31.0%, respectively. In adjusted analysis using CT only as the reference category, the HR for mortality for CT plus gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI was 0.64 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.62, 0.67; < .001), and the HR for CT plus non-gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI was 0.71 (95% CI: 0.68, 0.75; < .001). Use of CT plus gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI was associated with lower mortality compared with CT plus non-gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI (adjusted HR, 0.90; 95% CI: 0.85, 0.95; < .001), but this survival advantage was restricted to patients with localized disease. Conclusion In patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, additional use of contrast-enhanced MRI was associated with lower mortality. Furthermore, CT plus gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI was associated with better survival than CT plus non-gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI but only in patients with localized disease. © RSNA, 2020 See also the editorial by Kim in this issue.
