Objective:

To explore the value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in the evaluation of curative efficay of chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer.

Methods:

A total of 30 cases of pathologically confirmed esophageal cancer were retrospectively analyzed. According to the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST)

they were divided into remission group and non-remission group. The lesion length

thickness and ADC value before and afte

r chemoradiotherapy were compared. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was drawn to obtain the corresponding thresholds and diagnostic sensitivity and specificity.

Results:

The lesion length and thickness were reduced

and ADC values were increased after treatment. The lesion length difference

thickness difference and their variation rates could not be used as predictive indicators of curative efficay

but ADC value difference and variation rate could be used. When the ADC value difference of 0.63010

-3

mm

2

/s and variation rate of 0.559 were set as the thresholds of remission

the sensitivity and specificity achieved 81.3%

85.7%

and 87.5%

85.7%

respectively.

Conclusion:

Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) could be used to evaluate chemoradiotherapy efficacy in the patients with esophageal cancer.