Abstract

Quantitative ultrasound approaches can capture tissue morphological properties to augment clinical diagnostics. This study aims to assess whether quantitative ultrasound spectroscopy (QUS) parameters measured in HCC tissues can be differentiated from those measured in at risk or healthy liver parenchyma.This prospective HIPAA-compliant study was approved by the IRB. Fifteen HCC patients, 15 non-HCC patients with chronic liver disease and 15 healthy volunteers were included (31.1% women; 68.9% men). Ultrasound radiofrequency (RF) data were acquired in each patient in both liver lobes at 2 focal depths. Region of interests (ROI) were drawn on HCC and liver parenchyma. The average normalized power spectrum for each ROI was extracted and a linear regression was fit within the -6dB bandwidth, from which the mid-band fit (MBF), spectral intercept (SI) and spectral slope (SS) were extracted. Differences in QUS parameters between the ROIs were tested by a mixed-effects regression.There was a significant intra-individual difference in MBF, SS and SI between HCC and adjacent liver parenchyma (P<0.001), and a significant inter-individual difference between HCC and at-risk and healthy non-HCC parenchyma (P<0.001). In HCC patients, cirrhosis (n=13) did not significantly change any of the three parameters (P>0.8) in differentiating HCC from non-HCC parenchyma. MBF (P=0.12), SI (P=0.33), and SS (P=0.57) were not significantly different in non-HCC tissue among the groups.The QUS parameters are significantly different in HCC vs. non-HCC liver parenchyma, independent of underlying cirrhosis. This could be leveraged for improved HCC detection with ultrasound in the future.

View details for DOI 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-19-1030

View details for PubMedID 31444249