Comparison of the diagnostic accuracy and validity of biparametric MRI and multiparametric MRI-based VI-RADS scoring in bladder cancer; is contrast material really necessary in detecting muscle invasion?

Comparison of staging MRI to re-resection for localised bladder cancer: Narrative review

Introduction

Bladder cancer (BCa) is characterised by high prevalence, multifocality, and frequent recurrence, imposing significant clinical and economic burdens. Accurate staging, particularly distinguishing non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) from muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) disease, is crucial for guiding treatment decisions. This narrative review explores the potential implications of incorporating multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) and the Vesical Imaging Reporting Data System (VI-RADS) into BCa staging, focusing on repeat transurethral resection of bladder tumour (re-TURBT).

Methods

A comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, and MEDLINE databases identified studies published from 2018 to 2023 discussing mpMRI or VI-RADS in the context of re-TURBT for BCa staging. Studies meeting inclusion criteria underwent qualitative analysis.

Results

Six recent studies met inclusion criteria. VI-RADS scoring, accurately predicted muscle invasion, aiding in NMIBC/MIBC differentiation. VI-RADS scores of ≥3 indicated MIBC with high sensitivity and specificity. VI-RADS potentially identified patients benefiting from re-TURBT and those for whom it could be safely omitted.

Discussion

mpMRI and VI-RADS offer promising prospects for BCa staging, potentially correlating more closely with re-TURBT and radical cystectomy histopathology than initial TURBT. However, validation and careful evaluation of clinical integration are needed. Future research should refine patient selection and optimise mpMRI's role in BCa management.

Conclusion

VI-RADS scoring could revolutionise BCa staging, especially regarding re-TURBT. There is potential that VI-RADS correlates more with the histopathology of re-TURBT and radical cystectomy than initial TURBT. While promising, ongoing research is essential to validate utility, refine selection criteria, and address economic considerations. Integration of VI-RADS into BCa staging holds potential benefits for patients and health care systems.

Clinical application of bladder MRI and the Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System

Diagnostic work-up and risk stratification in patients with bladder cancer before and after treatment must be refined to optimize management and improve outcomes. MRI has been suggested as a non-invasive technique for bladder cancer staging and assessment of response to systemic therapy. The Vesical Imaging-Reporting And Data System (VI-RADS) was developed to standardize bladder MRI image acquisition, interpretation and reporting and enables accurate prediction of muscle-wall invasion of bladder cancer. MRI is available in many centres but is not yet recommended as a first-line test for bladder cancer owing to a lack of high-quality evidence. Consensus-based evidence on the use of MRI-VI-RADS for bladder cancer care is needed to serve as a benchmark for formulating guidelines and research agendas until further evidence from randomized trials becomes available.

Progress of Multiparameter Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Bladder Cancer: A Comprehensive Literature Review

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been proven to be an indispensable imaging method in bladder cancer, and it can accurately identify muscular invasion of bladder cancer. Multiparameter MRI is a promising tool widely used for preoperative staging evaluation of bladder cancer. Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) scoring has proven to be a reliable tool for local staging of bladder cancer with high accuracy in preoperative staging, but VI-RADS still faces challenges and needs further improvement. Artificial intelligence (AI) holds great promise in improving the accuracy of diagnosis and predicting the prognosis of bladder cancer. Automated machine learning techniques based on radiomics features derived from MRI have been utilized in bladder cancer diagnosis and have demonstrated promising potential for practical implementation. Future work should focus on conducting more prospective, multicenter studies to validate the additional value of quantitative studies and optimize prediction models by combining other biomarkers, such as urine and serum biomarkers. This review assesses the value of multiparameter MRI in the accurate evaluation of muscular invasion of bladder cancer, as well as the current status and progress of its application in the evaluation of efficacy and prognosis.

The role of gadolinium-based contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging structured reporting and data systems (RADS)

Among the 28 reporting and data systems (RADS) available in the literature, we identified 15 RADS that can be used in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Performing examinations without using gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCA) has benefits, but GBCA administration is often required to achieve an early and accurate diagnosis. The aim of the present review is to summarize the current role of GBCA in MRI RADS. This overview suggests that GBCA are today required in most of the current RADS and are expected to be used in most MRIs performed in patients with cancer. Dynamic contrast enhancement is required for correct scores calculation in PI-RADS and VI-RADS, although scientific evidence may lead in the future to avoid the GBCA administration in these two RADS. In Bone-RADS, contrast enhancement can be required to classify an aggressive lesion. In RADS scoring on whole body-MRI datasets (MET-RADS-P, MY-RADS and ONCO-RADS), in NS-RADS and in Node-RADS, GBCA administration is optional thanks to the intrinsic high contrast resolution of MRI. Future studies are needed to evaluate the impact of the high T1 relaxivity GBCA on the assignment of RADS scores.

European Association of Urology Guidelines on Muscle-invasive and Metastatic Bladder Cancer: Summary of the 2023 Guidelines

CONTEXT

We present an overview of the updated 2023 European Association of Urology (EAU) guidelines for muscle-invasive and metastatic bladder cancer (MMIBC).

OBJECTIVE

To provide practical evidence-based recommendations and consensus statements on the clinical management of MMIBC with a focus on diagnosis and treatment.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

A broad and comprehensive scoping exercise covering all areas of the MMIBC guidelines has been performed annually since 2017. Searches cover the Medline, EMBASE, and Cochrane Libraries databases for yearly guideline updates. A level of evidence and strength of recommendation are assigned. The evidence cutoff date for the 2023 MIBC guidelines was May 4, 2022.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

Patients should be counselled regarding risk factors for bladder cancer. Pathologists should describe tumour and lymph nodes in detail, including the presence of histological subtypes. The importance of the presence or absence of urothelial carcinoma (UC) in the prostatic urethra is emphasised. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the bladder is superior to computed tomography (CT) for disease staging, specifically in differentiating T1 from T2 disease, and may lead to a change in treatment approach in patients at high risk of an invasive tumour. Imaging of the upper urinary tract, lymph nodes, and distant metastasis is performed with CT or MRI; the additional value of flurodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/CT still needs to be determined. Frail and comorbid patients should be evaluated by a multidisciplinary team. Postoperative histology remains the most important prognostic variable, while circulating tumour DNA appears to be an interesting predictive marker. Neoadjuvant systemic therapy remains cisplatin-based. In motivated and selected women and men, sexual organ-preserving cystectomy results in better functional outcomes without compromising oncological outcomes. Robotic and open cystectomy have comparable outcomes and should be combined with (extended) lymph node dissection. The diversion type is an individual choice after taking patient and tumour characteristics into account. Radical cystectomy remains a highly complex procedure with considerable morbidity and risk of mortality, although lower rates are observed for higher hospital volumes (>20 cases/yr). With proper patient selection, trimodal therapy (chemoradiation) has comparable outcomes to radical cystectomy. Adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery improves disease-specific survival and overall survival (OS) in patients with high-risk disease who did not receive neoadjuvant treatment, and is strongly recommended. There is a weak recommendation for adjuvant nivolumab, as OS data are not yet available. Health-related quality of life should be assessed using validated questionnaires at baseline and after treatment. Surveillance is needed to monitor for recurrent cancer and functional outcomes. Recurrences detected on follow-up seem to have better prognosis than symptomatic recurrences.

CONCLUSIONS

This summary of the 2023 EAU guidelines provides updated information on the diagnosis and treatment of MMIBC for incorporation into clinical practice.

PATIENT SUMMARY

The European Association of Urology guidelines panel on muscle-invasive and metastatic bladder cancer has released an updated version of the guideline containing information on diagnosis and treatment of this disease. Recommendations are based on studies published up to May 4, 2022. Surgical removal of the bladder and bladder preservation are discussed, as well as updates on the use of chemotherapy and immunotherapy in localised and metastatic disease.

Biparametric versus Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Assessing Muscle Invasion in Bladder Urothelial Carcinoma with Variant Histology Using the Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System

BACKGROUND

The diagnostic performance of contrast medium-free biparametric magnetic resonance imaging (bpMRI; combining T2-weighted imaging [T2WI] and diffusion-weighted imaging [DWI]) for evaluating variant-histology urothelial carcinoma (VUC) remains unknown.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the diagnostic performance of bpMRI and multiparametric MRI (mpMRI; combining T2WI, DWI, and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI]) for assessing muscle invasion of VUC.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This multi-institution retrospective analysis included 118 patients with pathologically verified VUC who underwent bladder mpMRI before transurethral bladder tumor resection between 2010 and 2019.

OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

Three board-certified radiologists separately evaluated two sets of images, set 1 (bpMRI) and set 2 (mpMRI), in accordance with the Vesical Imaging Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS). The histopathology results were utilized as a reference standard. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, Z test, and Wald test were used to assess diagnostic abilities.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

Sixty-six (55.9%) and 52 (44.1%) of the 118 patients with VUC included in the analysis (mean age, 71 ± 10 yr; 88 men) had muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) and non-MIBC, respectively. For the diagnosis of MIBC, the areas under the curve for bpMRI were significantly smaller than those for mpMRI (0.870-0.884 vs 0.902-0.923, p < 0.05). The sensitivity of bpMRI was significantly lower than that of mpMRI for all readers with a VI-RADS cutoff score of 4 (65.2-66.7% vs 77.3-80.3%, p < 0.05). The specificity of bpMRI and mpMRI did not differ significantly for all readers (88.5-90.4 vs 88.5-92.3, p > 0.05). A limitation of the study is the limited sample size because of the rarity of VUC.

CONCLUSIONS

In patients with VUC, on applying VI-RADS, the diagnostic results of bpMRI were inferior to those of mpMRI for evaluating muscle invasion. Therefore, mpMRI-based methods are recommended for evaluating muscle invasiveness of VUC.

PATIENT SUMMARY

Contrast medium-free biparametric magnetic resonance imaging (bpMRI)-based Vesical Imaging Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) can accurately diagnose pure urothelial carcinomas, similar to conventional multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging-based VI-RADS. However, bpMRI-based VI-RADS may misdiagnose muscle invasiveness of urothelial carcinoma with variant histology, particularly when its cutoff score is 4.

Evaluating residual tumor after neoadjuvant chemotherapy for muscle-invasive urothelial bladder cancer: diagnostic performance and outcomes using biparametric vs. multiparametric MRI

BACKGROUND

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) before radical cystectomy is standard of care in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC). Response assessment after NAC is important but suboptimal using CT. We assessed MRI without vs. with intravenous contrast (biparametric [BP] vs. multiparametric [MP]) for identifying residual disease on cystectomy and explored its prognostic role.

METHODS

Consecutive MIBC patients that underwent NAC, MRI, and cystectomy between January 2000-November 2022 were identified. Two radiologists reviewed BP-MRI (T2 + DWI) and MP-MRI (T2 + DWI + DCE) for residual tumor. Diagnostic performances were compared using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox proportional-hazards models were used to evaluate association with disease-free survival (DFS).

RESULTS

61 patients (36 men and 25 women; median age 65 years, interquartile range 59-72) were included. After NAC, no residual disease was detected on pathology in 19 (31.1%) patients. BP-MRI was more accurate than MP-MRI for detecting residual disease after NAC: area under the curve = 0.75 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.62-0.85) vs. 0.58 (95% CI, 0.45-0.70; p = 0.043). Sensitivity were identical (65.1%; 95% CI, 49.1-79.0) but specificity was higher in BP-MRI compared with MP-MRI for determining residual disease: 77.8% (95% CI, 52.4-93.6) vs. 38.9% (95% CI, 17.3-64.3), respectively. Positive BP-MRI and residual disease on pathology were both associated with worse DFS: hazard ratio (HR) = 4.01 (95% CI, 1.70-9.46; p = 0.002) and HR = 5.13 (95% CI, 2.66-17.13; p = 0.008), respectively. Concordance between MRI and pathology results was significantly associated with DFS. Concordant positive (MRI+/pathology+) patients showed worse DFS than concordant negative (MRI-/pathology-) patients (HR = 8.75, 95% CI, 2.02-37.82; p = 0.004) and compared to the discordant group (MRI+/pathology- or MRI-/pathology+) with HR = 3.48 (95% CI, 1.39-8.71; p = 0.014).

CONCLUSION

BP-MRI was more accurate than MP-MRI for identifying residual disease after NAC. A negative BP-MRI was associated with better outcomes, providing complementary information to pathological assessment of cystectomy specimens.

Comparison of the diagnostic performance of biparametric and multiparametric MRI in detecting muscle invasion of bladder cancer located at the ureteral orifice

PURPOSE

To assess the diagnostic performance of biparametric magnetic resonance imaging (bp-MRI) in predicting detrusor muscle invasion for bladder cancer (BC) located at the ureteral orifice by comparing it with the Vesical Imaging Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) system based on multiparametric MRI (mp-MRI).

METHODS

Patients with histopathologically proven BC located at the ureteral orifice from December 2019 to November 2022 were analyzed retrospectively. Two sets, bp-MRI (set 1) and mp-MRI (set 2), were formed from the images. Both sets were evaluated independent of histopathology by three radiologists with different levels of experience in abdominal radiology. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to assess the diagnostic performance of VI-RADS in the prediction of muscle invasion. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to evaluate inter-reader agreement.

RESULTS

Of 68 patients with BCs located at the ureteral orifice, 50 (48 males, median age: 72 years) met the study criteria. Out of the 50 patients, 36 had non-muscle invasive BC (pTa-T1) and 14 had muscle invasive BC (MIBC) (pT2-T4). In the comparison of VI-RADS categories with histopathologic data for MIBC detection, the area under the curve of the ROC analysis for the bp- and mp-MRI protocol was 1.000-0.986 for reader 1, 0.893-0.901 for reader 2, and 0.808-0.865 for reader 3. There was no statistically significant difference in predicting detrusor muscle invasion with the bp- and mp-MRI-based on VI-RADS categories for all readers (p = 0.126, 0.203, and 0.322, respectively). The ICCs between all the readers showed excellent agreement and were similar for both protocols.

CONCLUSION

The bp-MRI consisting of DWI and T2-WI can be used as an alternative to the mp-MRI in predicting detrusor muscle invasion for BCs located at the ureteral orifice; however, less experienced readers should exercise caution.

Novel utility of Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System in multimodal treatment for muscle-invasive bladder cancer

OBJECTIVES

To examine the clinical significance of the Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) in predicting outcome of multimodal treatment (MMT) in muscle-invasive bladder cancer (MIBC) patients.

METHODS

We reviewed 78 pathologically proven MIBC patients who underwent MMT including transurethral resection and chemoradiotherapy, followed by partial or radical cystectomy. Treatment response was assessed through histologic evaluation of cystectomy specimens. Two radiologists categorized the index lesions of pretherapeutic MRI according to the 5-point VI-RADS score. The associations of VI-RADS score with the therapeutic effect of MMT were analyzed. The diagnostic performance of VI-RADS scores with a cut-off VI-RADS scores  ≤ 2 or ≤ 3 for predicting pathologic complete response to MMT (MMT-CR) was evaluated.

RESULTS

MMT-CR was achieved in 2 (100%) of VI-RADS score 1 (n = 2), 16 (84%) of score 2 (n = 19), 12 (86%) of score 3 (n = 14), 7 (64%) of score 4 (n = 11), and 14 (44%) of score 5 (n = 32). VI-RADS score was inversely associated with the incidence of MMT-CR (p = 0.00049). The cut-off VI-RADS score  ≤ 2 and  ≤ 3 could predict the favorable therapeutic outcome of MMT with high specificity (0.89 with 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.71-0.98 and 0.82 with 95% CI: 0.62-0.94, respectively) and high positive predictive value (0.86 with 95% CI: 0.64-0.97 and 0.86 with 95% CI: 0.70-0.95, respectively).

CONCLUSION

VI-RADS score may serve as an imaging marker in MIBC patients for predicting the therapeutic outcome of MMT.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT

Muscle-invasive bladder cancer patients with a lower Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System score can be a good candidate for bladder-sparing treatment incorporating multimodal treatment.

KEY POINTS

• Vesical Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) score was potentially valuable for classifying pathologic tumor response in patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer. • The likelihood of achieving complete response of multimodal treatment (MMT) decreased with increasing VI-RADS score. • VI-RADS score could serve as an imaging marker that optimizes patient selection for MMT.

Comparison between biparametric and multiparametric MRI in predicting muscle invasion by bladder cancer based on the VI-RADS

This study aimed to compare the diagnostic validity of biparametric magnetic resonance imaging (bpMRI) with that of multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) based on the Vesicle Imaging-Reporting and Data System (VI-RADS) in predicting muscle invasion by bladder cancer (BCa). We retrospectively examined 357 patients with an initial diagnosis of BCa who underwent preoperative MRI; 257 and 100 patients underwent mpMRI and bpMRI, respectively. Two urogenital radiologists evaluated all bpMRI and mpMRI scans using VI-RADS, and the diagnostic validity of VI-RADS for predicting muscle invasion by BCa was analyzed based on histopathology of the first and/or second transurethral resection of bladder tumors and radical cystectomy. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted with the calculation of area under the curves (AUCs), and the level of significance was P < 0.05. Both groups showed optimal performance with a VI-RADS score ≥ 3. BpMRI showed comparable diagnostic performance to mpMRI (reader 1: AUC, 0.903 [0.827-0.954] vs. 0.935 [0.884-0.968], p = 0.510; and reader 2: AUC, 0.901 [0.814-0.945] vs. 0.915 [0.874-0.946]; p = 0.655). The inter-reader agreement between both readers was excellent (Cohen's kappa value = 0.942 and 0.905 for bpMRI and mpMRI, respectively). This comparative study suggests that bpMRI has comparable diagnostic performance to mpMRI and may be an alternative option to predict muscle invasion by BCa.