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• Clinical Article •
Voxel-based morphological study on the changes of brain structure during radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma
CHEN Shuo  ZHOU Yanfei  HU Zongtao  CAO Zong  YANG Lizhuang  LI Hai 

Cite this article as: Chen S, Zhou YF, Hu ZT, et al. Voxel-based morphological study on the changes of brain structure during radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2022, 13(12): 81-86. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2022.12.014.


[Abstract] Objective To study the changes in cerebral gray matter volume in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) during radiotherapy and its relationship with radiotherapy dose.Materials and Methods Twenty-one patients with first-episode NPC were selected for MRI scanning before radiotherapy (1-2 days before radiotherapy), during radiotherapy (19-20 days after radiotherapy), and after radiotherapy (1-2 days after radiotherapy). Voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was used to analyze the changes in cerebral gray matter volume during radiotherapy; the correlation between volume change and the dose was analyzed.Results Compared with those before radiotherapy, the volume of the temporal lobe (bilateral fusiform gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, right middle temporal gyrus, right inferior temporal gyrus), occipital lobe (left lingual gyrus, right rectangular gyrus), frontal lobe (left orbital middle frontal gyrus, left orbital inferior frontal gyrus), marginal lobe (left insular lobe, bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus), and left cerebellar gray matter decreased during radiotherapy in NPC patients (cluster level FWE correction, P＜0.001); After radiotherapy, the volume of gray matter in the temporal lobe, occipital lobe, frontal lobe, marginal lobe and cerebellum of NPC patients still decreased significantly, and the volume of gray matter in the right insular lobe, left temporal lobe, bilateral superior frontal gyrus, right orbital inferior frontal gyrus, right cerebellum, and right parahippocampal gyrus also decreased (cluster level FWE correction, P＜0.001). The volume change of left cerebellar gray matter was positively correlated with the radiation dose (r=0.503, P=0.020).Conclusions The brain gray matter structure of NPC patients has undergone morphological changes during radiotherapy.
[Keywords] head and neck neoplasms；nasopharyngeal carcinoma；radiation brain injury；morphological changes of cerebral gray matter；voxel-based morphometry；magnetic resonance imaging

CHEN Shuo1   ZHOU Yanfei2, 3   HU Zongtao3   CAO Zong3   YANG Lizhuang2, 3   LI Hai2, 3*  

1 Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan 232000, China

2 Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230000, China

3 Hefei Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei 230000, China

Li H, E-mail: hli@cmpt.ac.cn

Conflicts of interest   None.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (No. 2008085MC69); Anhui Province Key Research and Development Program (No. 201904a07020104); Scientific Research Project of Anhui Provincial Health Commission (No. AHWJ2021b150).
Received  2022-08-01
Accepted  2022-11-29
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2022.12.014
Cite this article as: Chen S, Zhou YF, Hu ZT, et al. Voxel-based morphological study on the changes of brain structure during radiotherapy of nasopharyngeal carcinoma[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2022, 13(12): 81-86. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2022.12.014.

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