10020 Objective: Presently grade is the most important factor used to decide the soft tissue sarcoma management. But it is always very difficult to assign a pathologic grade because of discordance rate is 30–40%, even among experienced sarcoma oncopathologists. Again histopathology has the disadvantages of being invasive, subjective and insensitive to tumour heterogeneity. This emphasizes the need for an objective and accurate assessment of histologic type and grade of sarcoma. The aim of this study is to evaluate the correlation of in vivo proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic findings with histopathological features and validate its diagnostic efficacy in management of different types of soft tissue sarcomas. Methods: PMRS Study was performed at 1.5Tesla MRI machine with a surface coil appropriate for the location of the lesions in 25 patients. Single-voxel (SVS) study has been done in 10 cases and chemical shift imaging (CSI) study characterised the heterogeneity of the tumor in 15 cases by using point - resolved spectroscopic sequence (PRESS) with echo time TR=2,000 / TE = 30, 135 & 270 msec. The choline peak, identified at 3.2 ppm in spectra was considered as significant which shows the activity of the tumour. MRS results and histopathologic findings were correlated and P < 0.001, considered being significant. Results: Choline peak was found in 17 out of 17 patients with malignant soft tissue tumours where as three patient with benign and five treated malignant soft tissue tumour patients with no residual disease did not show any choline. In vivo spectroscopy here shows sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of 100% each. Conclusion: Choline peak in MRS study can predict the grade, margin status (especially CSI) and tumour activity in recurrent and / or residual soft tissue sarcoma. Most important findings here was that without using any contrast medium in study the choline peak in CSI spectroscopic evaluation could show the tumor activity at the margin of the tumor which is very important point for evaluation of residual or recurrent or completion of the surgical excision of the tumor A major study should be done to validate its efficacy for routine use in oncology. [Table: see text]
Prognostic Impact of Immunohistochemical Expression of Ezrin in Highly Malignant Soft Tissue Sarcomas
