An accurate delineation of the intraprostatic gross tumor volume (GTV) is of importance for focal treatment in patients with primary prostate cancer (PCa). Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) is the standard of care for lesion detection but has been shown to underestimate GTV. This study investigated how far the GTV has to be expanded in MRI in order to reach concordance with the histopathological reference and whether this strategy is practicable in clinical routine.
Twenty-two patients with planned prostatectomy and preceded 3 Tesla mpMRI were prospectively examined. After surgery, PCa contours delineated on histopathological slides (GTV-Histo) were superimposed on MRI using
In 19 of 22 patients MRI underestimated the intraprostatic tumor volume compared to histopathological reference: median GTV-Histo (4.7 cm3, IQR: 2.5–18.8) was significantly (p<0.001) lager than median GTV-MRI (2.6 cm3, IQR: 1.2–6.9). A median expansion of 1 mm (range: 0–4 mm) adjusted the initial GTV-MRI to at least the volume of GTV-Histo (GTVexp-MRI). Original GTV-MRI and expansion with 1, 2, 3, and 4 mm covered in median 39% (IQR: 2%–78%), 62% (10%–91%), 70% (15%–95%), 80% (21–100), 87% (25%–100%) of GTV-Histo, respectively. Best DSC (median: 0.54) between GTV-Histo and GTV-MRI was achieved by median expansion of 2 mm. The urethra was covered by initial GTVs-MRI in eight patients (36%). After applying an expansion with 2 mm the urethra was covered in one more patient by GTV-MRI.
Using histopathology as reference, we demonstrated that MRI underestimates intraprostatic tumor volume. A 2 mm–expansion may improve accurate GTV-delineation while respecting the balance between histological tumor coverage and overtreatment.