Sabrina Doblas1, Mathilde Wagner1,2,
Jean-Luc Daire1,2, Nathalie Haddad1,2, Helena Leitao2,3,
Ralph Sinkus1, Valrie Vilgrain1,2, Bernard E. Van
Beers1,2
1Centre de Recherche
Biomdicale Bichat-Beaujon, INSERM U773, Clichy, France; 2Department
of Radiology, Beaujon University Hospital, University Paris Diderot, Clichy,
France; 3Department of Radiology, Hospitais de Universidade de
Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Conventional apparent diffusion coefficient measurements can identify tumor malignancy but fail to determine tumor types. This classical approach was compared to a bi-exponential scheme able to extract microcirculation perfusion and pure molecular diffusion information in a study of characterization of human hepatic tumors on a cohort of 89 patients. A more complete, bi-exponential approach did not offer any added value with respect to the distinction between benign and malignant lesions. However, perfusion and pure diffusion fractions helped to differentiate metastases as a specific tumor subgroup, showing the advantage of using such an approach in specific cases.