Work

Exploring pancreatic variability in BRCA carriers vs. Non-Carriers: A diffusion tensor MRI study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Background Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a dismal disease, often diagnosed at advanced, unresectable stages. Early detection is critical to improve survival, but current imaging modalities are limited in detecting early stage malignancies. Diffusion tensor MRI (DT-MRI) has shown potential in identifying PDAC. This study confirms the feasibility of DT-MRI to measure pancreatic diffusion metrics and examines whether DT-MRI detects any differences in these metrics between high-risk genetic mutation carriers and controls. Materials & Methods Retrospective data analysis included 18 high-risk individuals with PDAC-predisposing mutations and 17 controls undergoing routine pancreatic MRI. Participants underwent standard MRI and DT-MRI (3 T scanner, b-values 0–500 and 100–500 s/mm 2 ), with clinical, demographic, and pathological data collected. Statistical analyses included Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, Mann-Whitney U-tests, and Benjamini-Hochberg corrections. Results Among 35 participants (14 males, 21 females), the mean ages were 52 for high-risk and 62 for controls ( p = 0.0436, Welch's t -test). DTI metrics (λ 1 , λ 2 and λ 3 , apparent diffusion coefficient and fractional anisotropy) varied significantly between the two b-value pairs ( p < 0.00001). However, these metrics and the λ 1 , λ 2 and λ 3 ratios (medians 1.1, 1.4, 2.4, IQRs 0.11, 0.22, 0.76, respectively) showed no significant differences between the high-risk and control groups after correction, yet, λ 1 , λ 2 and λ 3 ratios showed IVIM-related directional variations suggesting directional differences in capillary perfusion of the pancreas. Conclusion DT-MRI effectively measures diffusion coefficients and IVIM contributions in the pancreas. Although no significant differences were found between high-risk individuals and controls, the method supports adjunct, bias-free use in future pancreatic cancer screening studies.

Source: European Journal of Radiology

DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112483