The value of arterial spin labelling (ASL) perfusion MRI in the assessment of post-treatment progression in adult glioma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

Background The distinction between viable tumor and therapy-induced changes is crucial for the clinical management of patients with gliomas. This study aims to quantitatively assess the efficacy of arterial spin labelling (ASL) biomarkers, including relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and absolute cerebral blood flow (CBF), for the discrimination of progressive disease (PD) and treatment-related effects. Methods Eight articles were included in the synthesis after searching the literature systematically. Data has been extracted and a meta-analysis using the random-effect model was subsequently carried out. Diagnostic accuracy assessment was also performed. Results This study revealed that there is a significant difference in perfusion measurements between groups with PD and therapy-induced changes. The rCBF yielded a standardized mean difference (SMD) of 1.25 [95% CI 0.75, 1.75] (p < 0.00001). The maximum perfusion indices (rCBFmax and CBFmax) both showed equivalent discriminatory ability, with SMD of 1.35 [95% CI 0.78, 1.91] (p < 0.00001) and 1.56 [95% CI 0.79, 2.33] (p < 0.0001), respectively. Similarly, accuracy estimates were comparable among ASL–derived metrices. Pooled sensitivities [95% CI] were 0.85 [0.67, 0.94], 0.88 [0.71, 0.96], 0.93 [0.73, 0.98] and pooled specificities [95% CI] were 0.83 [0.71, 0.91], 0.83 [0.67, 0.92], 0.84 [0.67, 0.93], for rCBF, rCBFmax and CBFmax, respectively. Corresponding HSROC area under curve (AUC) [95% CI] were 0.90 [0.87, 0.92], 0.92 [0.89, 0.94] and 0.93 [0.90, 0.95]. Conclusion These results suggest that ASL quantitative biomarkers, particularly rCBFmax and CBFmax, have the potential to discriminate between glioma progression and therapy-induced changes.