Could intravoxel incoherent motion diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging be feasible and beneficial to the evaluation of gastrointestinal tumors histopathology and the therapeutic response?

Core Tip

Core tip: In general, the gastrointestinal tumors (GTs) can be diagnosed by routine computed tomography/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and biopsy, but the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM), a new emerging MRI technique, plays a important role in the tumor evaluation before and after surgery, and provides more useful information in tumor properties, stage and chemoradiotherapy (CRT) response. What’s more, the quantitative parameters derived from IVIM, including D, D* and f, can gain an insight into tumor tissue physiology changes and simultaneously reflect the microenvironment, microcirculation in the capillary network and diffusion in tumor tissues, thus, new imaging biomarkers for monitoring and evaluating the tumor and the CRT response in GTs.