Detection of prostate cancer using diffusion-relaxation correlation spectrum imaging with support vector machine model – a feasibility study

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the performance of diffusion-relaxation correlation spectrum imaging (DR-CSI) with support vector machine (SVM) in detecting prostate cancer (PCa). METHODS: In total, 114 patients (mean age, 66 years, range, 48–87 years) who received a prostate MRI and underwent biopsy were enrolled in three stages. Thirty-nine were assigned for the exploration stage to establish the model, 18 for the validation stage to choose the appropriate scale for mapping and 57 for the test stage to compare the diagnostic performance of the DR-CSI and PI-RADS. RESULTS: In the exploration stage, the DR-CSI model was established and performed better than the ADC and T(2) values (both P < 0.001). The validation result shows that at least 2 pixels were required for both the long-axis and short-axis in the mapping procedure. In the test stage, DR-CSI had higher accuracy than PI-RADS ≥ 3 as a positive finding based on patient (84.2% vs. 63.2%, P = 0.004) and lesion (78.8% vs. 57.6%, P = 0.001) as well as PI-RADS ≥ 4 on lesion (76.5% vs. 64.7%, P = 0.029), while there was no significant difference between DR-CSI and PI-RADS ≥ 4 based on patient (P = 0.508). For clinically significant PCa, DR-CSI had higher accuracy than PI-RADS ≥ 3 based on patients (84.2% vs. 63.2%, P = 0.004) and lesions (62.4% vs. 48.2%, P = 0.036). There was no significant difference between DR-CSI and PI-RADS ≥ 4 (P = 1.000 and 0.845 for the patient and lesion levels, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: DR-CSI combined with the SVM model may improve the diagnostic accuracy of PCa. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of our institute (Approval No. KY2018-213). Written informed consent was obtained from all participants.