Combining quantitative and qualitative magnetic resonance imaging features to differentiate anorectal malignant melanoma from low rectal cancer

Background Distinguishing anorectal malignant melanoma from low rectal cancer remains challenging due to the overlap of clinical symptoms and imaging findings. We aim to investigate whether combining quantitative and qualitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features could differentiate anorectal malignant melanoma from low rectal cancer. Methods Thirty-seven anorectal malignant melanoma and 98 low rectal cancer patients who underwent pre-operative rectal MRI from three hospitals were retrospectively enrolled. All patients were divided into the primary cohort (N = 84) and validation cohort (N = 51). Quantitative image analysis was performed on T1-weighted (T1WI), T2-weighted (T2WI), and contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging (CE-T1WI). The subjective qualitative MRI findings were evaluated by two radiologists in consensus. Multivariable analysis was performed using stepwise logistic regression. The discrimination performance was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results The skewness derived from T2WI (T2WI-skewness) showed the best discrimination performance among the entire quantitative image features for differentiating anorectal malignant melanoma from low rectal cancer (primary cohort: AUC = 0.852, 95% CI 0.788–0.916; validation cohort: 0.730, 0.645–0.815). Multivariable analysis indicated that T2WI-skewness and the signal intensity of T1WI were independent factors, and incorporated both factors achieved good discrimination performance in two cohorts (primary cohort: AUC = 0.913, 95% CI 0.868–0.958; validation cohort: 0.902, 0.844–0.960). Conclusions Incorporating T2WI-skewness and the signal intensity of T1WI achieved good performance for differentiating anorectal malignant melanoma from low rectal cancer. The quantitative image analysis helps improves diagnostic accuracy.