Incorporation of edited MRS into clinical practice may improve care of patients with IDH-mutant glioma.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutation and 1p/19q codeletion classify adult-type diffuse gliomas into three tumor subtypes with distinct prognosis. We aimed to evaluate the performance of edited magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) for glioma subtyping in a clinical setting, via the quantification of D-2-hydroxyglutarate (2HG) and cystathionine. The delay between this noninvasive classification and the integrated histomolecular analysis was also quantified. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects with presumed low-grade glioma, eligible for surgery (cohort 1), and subjects with IDH-mutant glioma, previously treated and with progressive disease (cohort 2) were prospectively examined with a singlevoxel Mescher-Garwood point-resolved spectroscopy sequence at 3 T. Spectra were quantified using LCModel. The Cramér-Rao lower bounds (CRLB) threshold was set to 20%. Integrated histomolecular analysis according to the 2021 WHO classification was considered as a ground truth. RESULTS: Thirty-four consecutive subjects were enrolled. Due to poor spectra quality and lack of histological specimen, data from 26 subjects was analyzed. Twenty-one belonged to cohort 1 [11 females; median age 42 years] and 5 to cohort 2 [3 females; median age 48 years]. Edited MRS showed 100% specificity for detection of IDH mutation and 91% specificity for prediction of 1p/19q codeletion status. Sensitivities for prediction of IDH and 1p/19q codeletion were 62% and 33%, respectively. The median CRLB values were 14% (13 - 32) for IDH-mutant and 572% (554 - 999) for IDH-wild-type tumors. The time between MRS and surgery was longer for low-grade than high-grade gliomas (p = .03), yet the time between MRS and WHO diagnosis did not differ between grades (p = .07), possibly reflecting molecular analyses induced delays in high-grade gliomas. CONCLUSIONS: Our results, acquired in a clinic setting, confirmed that edited MRS is highly specific for both IDH mutation and 1p/19q codeletion predictions and can provide a faster prognosis stratification. In the upcoming IDH-inhibitor treatment era, incorporation of edited MRS into clinical workflow is desirable. ABBREVIATIONS 2HG = D-2-hydroxyglutarate; Cth = cystathionine. CRLB Cramér-Rao lower bound; IDH isocitrate dehydrogenase.