Concordance between head and neck MRI and histopathology in detecting laryngeal subsite invasion among patients with laryngeal cancer

Abstract

Background

Accuracy of head and neck MRI (HN-MRI) in predicting tumor invasion of laryngeal site/subsites in patients with laryngeal cancer prior to laryngectomy is poorly evaluated in the literature. Therefore, we aim to evaluate the diagnostic value of HN-MRI in accurate pre-operative estimation of tumor invasion to laryngeal subsites in patients with laryngeal cancer.

Methods

Patients with laryngeal cancer who underwent HN-MRI for cancer staging and underwent total laryngectomy between 2008 and 2021 were included. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, and overall accuracy of HN-MRI in predicting tumor invasion of laryngeal subsites were calculated based on concordance between the HN-MRI and histopathological results.

Results

One hundred and thirty-seven patients underwent total laryngectomy [primary: 82/137(60%), salvage 55/137(40%)]. The utilization of HN-MRI resulted in the downstaging of 16/137 (11.6%) patients and the upstaging of 8/137 (5.8%) patients. For the whole cohort, there was a significant discordance between HN-MRI and histopathology for T-category; out of 116 cT4a disease, 102(87.9%) were confirmed to have pT4a disease, and out of 17 cT3 disease, 9(52.9%) were confirmed to have pT3 disease, p < 0.001. The MRI overall diagnostic accuracy of predicting tumor invasion was 91%, 92%, 82%, 87%, 72%, 76%, 65% and 68% for base of tongue, arytenoid, vocal cord, posterior commissure, pre-epiglottic space, cricoid cartilage, inner thyroid cortex, and subglottis, respectively.

Conclusions

In patients with laryngeal cancer undergoing total laryngectomy, HN-MRI demonstrates promising accuracy in predicting tumor invasion of specific laryngeal subsites (e.g., base of tongue). Our findings showed the potential of HN-MRI as a valuable tool for pre-operative planning and treatment decision-making in this patient population.