The prognostic value of three dimensional ultra-short echo time sequence of magnetic resonance imaging in non-small cell lung cancer

Tian Zhongyu; Su Haoran; Song Xuan; Liang Zhihong; Yan Wenlei

doi:10.3760/j.issn.1673-4777.2025.09.006

Abstract：Objective To analyze the value of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)three-dimensional ultra-short echo time(UTE)sequence in the prognosis evaluation of non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC).Methods A total of 220 patients with NSCLC admitted to Hengshui Second People's Hospital,Hebei Province from January 2020 to February 2024 were selected.All patients underwent conventional MRI and three-dimensional UTE sequence MRI.The results of pathological biopsy were used as the standard to analyze the diagnostic efficacy of conventional MRI and three-dimensional UTE sequence MRI in the clinical staging of NSCLC.After a 1-year follow-up,patients were divided into a good prognosis group(141 cases)and a poor prognosis group(79 cases).Data such as lung function,signal intensity(SIN)of UTE during full expiration,and UTE-T2* were compared between the two groups.The relationship between clinical indicators and prognosis of patients and the diagnostic value of UTE sequence in the prognosis of NSCLC were analyzed.Results Among 220 NSCLC patients,34 cases were diagnosed as TNM stage Ⅰ,70 cases as TNM stage Ⅱ and 116 cases as TNM stage Ⅲ A by pathological biopsy.The consistency between conventional MRI and pathological biopsy was 0.824(P＜0.05),and the con-sistency between the three-dimensional UTE sequence and pathological biopsy was 0.945(P＜0.05).SIN showed a downward trend and UTE-T2* showed an upward trend in TNM stage Ⅰ,Ⅱ and Ⅲ patients(all P＜0.001).Age,proportion of TNM stage Ⅲ A,tumor diameter,proportion of lymph node metastasis and UTE-T2* in the poor prognosis group were higher than those in the good prognosis group(all P＜0.01),and SIN was lower than that in the good prognosis group(P＜0.05).Binary Logistic regression analysis showed that age,TNM stage,tumor diameter,lymph node metastasis and UTE-T2*were risk factors for poor prognosis of NSCLC patients,and high SIN was a protective factor for poor prognosis of NSCLC patients(all P＜0.05).The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the area under the curve of the combination of SIN and UTE-T2*was 0.828,and the sensitivity and specificity were 89.97％and 80.14％,respectively.Conclusion MRI three-dimensional UTE sequence can effectively identify the clinical stage of NSCLC,and its quantitative parameters are related to the prognosis of NSCLC patients,which can be used for clinical diagnosis of NSCLC.