Power Doppler Vascularity Index for Predicting the Response of Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy in Cervical Carcinoma

Background: To evaluate whether the power Doppler vascularity index (PDVI) can predict the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) in cervical carcinoma.

Methods: Twenty-five women with bulky early stage cervical carcinoma treated by NACT followed by surgery were enrolled. Their response to NACT was evaluated. Clinical characteristics and pathologic data were recorded. Transvaginal power Doppler was performed before, during and after NACT. PDVI was detected using power Doppler and a quantitative image processing system. Factors that can potentially correlate with the response to NACT were analyzed.

Results: Twelve (48%) patients showed a response (responders) to NACT and 13 (52%) were unchanged or had progressive disease (nonresponders) after NACT. Higher PDVI values were noted in tumors with lymphovascular emboli and pelvic lymph node metastasis both before and after NACT. The mean values of the PDVI of the nonresponders before (19.27 +/- 6.01 vs. 12.28 +/- 7.06, p = 0.014), during (20.2 +/- 1.5 vs. 12.9 +/- 2.1, p = 0.009) and after NACT (18.1 +/- 6.0 vs. 9.3 +/- 5.4, p = 0.001) were significantly higher than those of the responders. When the cutoff point for predicting nonresponders to NACT was set at a PDVI value of 15%, the sensitivity was 92.3% and the specificity 66.7%.

Conclusions: The power Doppler vascularity index can predict the response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in cervical cancer, and might be useful for the evaluation of response to chemotherapy in cancer patients in the future.