Share：
Share this content in WeChat
X
[Chinese][PDF]471
• Review •
Advances in multi-sequence MRI for differentiating high-grade glioma and brain metastasis
WANG Man  MIAO Yanwei 

Cite this article as: WANG M, MIAO Y W. Advances in multi-sequence MRI for differentiating high-grade glioma and brain metastasis[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(2): 159-164. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.02.026.


[Abstract] High-grade glioma (HGG) and brain metastasis (BM) are the two most common types of malignant intracranial tumors. Their treatment strategy and prognosis are different. Therefore, it is of great significance to differentiate HGG from BM preoperatively. This paper reviews the research progress of specific imaging signs on conventional MRI and the research progress of multiple functional MRI (fMRI) in the differential diagnosis of HGG and BM, in order to provide reference for clinical differential diagnosis and follow-up research.
[Keywords] high-grade glioma；brain metastasis；magnetic resonance imaging；functional magnetic resonance imaging

WANG Man   MIAO Yanwei*  

Department of Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian 116011, China

Corresponding author: MIAO Y W, E-mail: ywmiao716@163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2024-10-16
Accepted  2025-02-10
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.02.026
Cite this article as: WANG M, MIAO Y W. Advances in multi-sequence MRI for differentiating high-grade glioma and brain metastasis[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(2): 159-164. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.02.026.

[1]
CHERIAN A, DIVYA K P, PRABHAKARAN P K, et al. "Pool sign" in Cerebral Metastatic Adenocarcinoma[J]. Ann Indian Acad Neurol, 2020, 23(4): 551-552. DOI: 10.4103/aian.AIAN_332_19.
[2]
KANDASAMY S, SAMUEL J, RAJA B, et al. The Pool sign in Metastatic Adenocarcinoma of Brain[J]. Can J Neurol Sci, 2021, 48(4): 553-554. DOI: 10.1017/cjn.2020.239.
[3]
ZHONG G J, ZHANG Y Z, CHEN Z, et al. The value of pool sign in differentiating intracranial single metastatic adenocarcinoma from glioblast.oma[J]. Radiol Practice, 2022, 37(12): 1505-1508. DOI: 10.13609/j.cnki.1000-0313.2022.12.008.
[4]
ZHANG Y, ZHANG H, ZHANG H, et al. Glioblastoma and Solitary Brain Metastasis: Differentiation by Integrating Demographic-MRI and Deep-Learning Radiomics Signatures[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2024, 60(3): 909-920. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.29123.
[5]
MUCCIO C F, TEDESCHI E, UGGA L, et al. Solitary Cerebral Metastases vs. High-grade Gliomas: Usefulness of Two MRI Signs in the Differential Diagnosis[J]. Anticancer Res, 2019, 39(9): 4905-4909. DOI: 10.21873/anticanres.13677.
[6]
LU L F, TIAN B T, CHEN T. Application value of compressed sensing contrast enhanced 3D fluid attenuated inversion recovery in the detection of tumor brain metastases[J]. Journal of Practical Radiology, 2024, 40(7): 1184-1188. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1002-1671.2024.07.033.
[7]
CAO M H, SU Y, SU W F, et al. Comparative study of different doses of gadolinium contrast agent on contrast enhanced T2 FLAIR and T1WI in diagnosis of brain metastases[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2024, 15(1): 152-157. DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2024.01.024.
[8]
SUN L, LUAN S, YE X, et al. Combination of Contrast-enhanced FlAIR and Contrast-enhanced T1WI: A Quick and Efficient Method in Detecting Brain Metastases of Lung Cancers[J/OL]. Curr Med Imaging, 2024 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38449070/. DOI: 10.2174/0115734056288838240201040400.
[9]
LIU J K, LIAO X Y, TANG P T, et al. The value of contrast-enhanced FLAIR sequence combined with subtraction technique in the differential diagnosis between high-grade glioma and solitary metastasis[J]. JPMI, 2019, 20(4): 325-328. DOI: 10.16106/j.cnki.cn14-1281/r.2019.04.001.
[10]
NGUYEN D H, LE T D, NGUYEN H V, et al. Discriminating glioblastoma from solitary brain metastases on 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging: the roles of fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity[J]. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci, 2022, 26(23): 8823-8831. DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202212_30554.
[11]
HE L, CHEN M, LI H, et al. Differentiation between high-grade gliomas and solitary brain metastases based on multidiffusion MRI model quantitative analysis[J/OL]. Front Oncol, 2024, 14: 1401748 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39469636/. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1401748.
[12]
WÜRTEMBERGER U, RAU A, REISERT M, et al. Differentiation of Perilesional Edema in Glioblastomas and Brain Metastases: Comparison of Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging and Diffusion Microstructure Imaging[J/OL]. Cancers (Basel), 2022, 15(1): 129 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39469636/. DOI: 10.3390/cancers15010129.
[13]
GAO E, GAO A, KUNG W KIT, et al. Histogram analysis based on diffusion kurtosis imaging: Differentiating glioblastoma multiforme from single brain metastasis and comparing the diagnostic performance of two region of interest placements[J/OL]. Eur J Radiol, 2022, 147: 110104 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34972059/. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2021.110104.
[14]
ZAMECNIK J. The extracellular space and matrix of gliomas[J]. Acta Neuropathol, 2005, 110(5): 435-442. DOI: 10.1007/s00401-005-1078-5.
[15]
PREUSSER M, CAPPER D, ILHAN-MUTLU A, et al. Brain metastases: pathobiology and emerging targeted therapies[J]. Acta Neuropathol, 2012, 123(2): 205-222. DOI: 10.1007/s00401-011-0933-9.
[16]
SMITS M, VAN DEN BENT M J. Imaging Correlates of Adult Glioma Genotypes[J]. Radiology, 2017, 284(2): 316-331. DOI: 10.1148/radiol.2017151930.
[17]
GAO E, WANG P, BAI J, et al. Radiomics Analysis of Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging: Distinguishing Between Glioblastoma and Single Brain Metastasis[J]. Acad Radiol, 2024, 31(3): 1036-1043. DOI: 10.1016/j.acra.2023.07.023.
[18]
WANG P, GAO E, QI J, et al. Quantitative analysis of mean apparent propagator-magnetic resonance imaging for distinguishing glioblastoma from solitary brain metastasis[J/OL]. Eur J Radiol, 2022, 154: 110430 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=10.1016%2Fj.ejrad.2022.110430&filter=datesearch.y_1. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110430.
[19]
WANG S, KIM S J, POPTANI H, et al. Diagnostic utility of diffusion tensor imaging in differentiating glioblastomas from brain metastases[J]. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol, 2014, 35(5): 928-934. DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A3871.
[20]
BAI J, HE M, GAO E, et al. High-performance presurgical differentiation of glioblastoma and metastasis by means of multiparametric neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) radiomics[J]. Eur Radiol, 2024, 34(10): 6616-6628. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-024-10686-8.
[21]
MAO J, ZENG W, ZHANG Q, et al. Differentiation between high-grade gliomas and solitary brain metastases: a comparison of five diffusion-weighted MRI models[J/OL]. BMC Med Imaging. 2020, 20(1): 124 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33228564/. DOI: 10.1186/s12880-020-00524-w.
[22]
QI J, WANG P, ZHAO G, et al. Histogram Analysis Based on Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density MR Imaging for Differentiation Between Glioblastoma Multiforme and Solitary Brain Metastasis and Comparison of the Diagnostic Performance of Two ROI Placements[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2023, 57(5): 1464-1474. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.28419.
[23]
SUH C H, KIM H S, JUNG S C, et al. Diffusion-Weighted Imaging and Diffusion Tensor Imaging for Differentiating High-Grade Glioma from Solitary Brain Metastasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis[J]. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol, 2018, 39(7): 1208-1214. DOI: 10.3174/ajnr.A5650.
[24]
OKITA Y, TAKANO K, TATEISHI S, et al. Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging and diffusion tensor imaging to facilitate distinction between infiltrating tumors and edemas in glioblastoma[J]. Magn Reson Imaging, 2023, 100: 18-25. DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2023.03.001.
[25]
PONS-ESCODA A, GARCIA-RUIZ A, GARCIA-HIDALGO C, et al. MR dynamic-susceptibility-contrast perfusion metrics in the presurgical discrimination of adult solitary intra-axial cerebellar tumors[J]. Eur Radiol, 2023, 33(12): 9120-9129. DOI: 10.1007/s00330-023-09892-7.
[26]
JIN Y, PENG H, PENG J. Brain Glioma Localization Diagnosis Based on Magnetic Resonance Imaging[J]. World Neurosurg, 2021, 149: 325-332. DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2020.09.113.
[27]
APARICI-ROBLES F, DAVIDHI A, CAROT-SIERRA J M, et al. Glioblastoma versus solitary brain metastasis: MRI differentiation using the edema perfusion gradient[J]. J Neuroimaging, 2022, 32(1): 127-133. DOI: 10.1111/jon.12920.
[28]
ROMANO A, MOLTONI G, GUARNERA A, et al. Single brain metastasis versus glioblastoma multiforme: a VOI-based multiparametric analysis for differential diagnosis[J]. Radiol Med, 2022, 127(5): 490-497. DOI: 10.1007/s11547-022-01480-x.
[29]
SOLOZHENTSEVA K, BATALOV A, ZAKHAROVA N, et al. The Role of 3D-pCASL MRI in the Differential Diagnosis of Glioblastoma and Brain Metastases[J/OL]. Front Oncol, 2022, 12: 874924 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35558515/. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2022.874924.
[30]
MOHAMMADI S, GHADERI S, JOUZDANI A F, et al. Differentiation Between High-Grade Glioma and Brain Metastasis Using Cerebral Perfusion-Related Parameters (Cerebral Blood Volume and Cerebral Blood Flow): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Perfusion-weighted MRI Techniques[J]. J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 61(2): 758-768. DOI: 10.1002/jmri.29473.
[31]
SUO H N, LI Y C, PENG R C. Application of 1H-MRS and DTI in the differential diagnosis of high-grade gliomas and metastatic tumors[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2023, 14(12): 103-108, 120. DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2023.12.017.
[32]
PETER S B, NANDHAN V R. 31-Phosphorus Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Evaluation of Glioma and Metastases in 3T MRI[J]. Indian J Radiol Imaging, 2022, 31(4): 873-881. DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1741090.
[33]
OSTOJIC J, KOZIC D, PANJKOVIC M, et al. Peak Resembling N-acetylaspartate (NAA) on Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy of Brain Metastases[J/OL]. Medicina (Kaunas), 2024, 60(4): 662 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38674308/. DOI: 10.3390/medicina60040662.
[34]
EL-ABTAH M E, TALATI P, FU M, et al. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy outperforms perfusion in distinguishing between pseudoprogression and disease progression in patients with glioblastoma[J/OL]. Neurooncol Adv, 2022, 4(1): 128 [2024-10-16]. DOI: 10.1093/noajnl/vdac128.
[35]
SEO M, CHOI Y, LEE Y SOO, et al. Glioma grading using multiparametric MRI: head-to-head comparison among dynamic susceptibility contrast, dynamic contrast-enhancement, diffusion-weighted images, and MR spectroscopy[J/OL]. Eur J Radiol, 2023, 165: 110888 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37257338/. DOI: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2023.110888.
[36]
ABBASPOUR F, MOHAMMADI N, AMIRI H, et al. Applications of magnetic resonance spectroscopy in diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases: A systematic review[J/OL]. Heliyon, 2024, 10(9): e30521 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38726104/. DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e30521.
[37]
YANG Y, QU X, HUANG Y, et al. Preliminary application of 3.0 T magnetic resonance chemical exchange saturation transfer imaging in brain metastasis of lung cancer[J/OL]. BMC Med Imaging, 2020, 20(1): 4 [2024-10-16]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31931731/. DOI: 10.1186/s12880-019-0400-y.
[38]
SUGAWARA K, MIYATI T, WAKABAYASHI H, et al. Evaluation of Brain Tumors Using Amide Proton Transfer Imaging: A Comparison of Normal Amide Proton Transfer Signal With Abnormal Amide Proton Transfer Signal Value[J]. J Comput Assist Tomogr, 2023, 47(1): 121-128. DOI: 10.1097/RCT.0000000000001378.
[39]
LI S H, CHEN L, ZHANG J H, et al. Clinical application of 3D-ASL and APT imaging in differential diagnosis of high-grade gliomas and brain metastases[J]. Radiol Practice, 2023, 38(8): 959-963. DOI: 10.13609/j.cnki.1000-0313.2023.08.001.
[40]
CHEN L, LI T, LI Y, et al. Combining amide proton transfer-weighted and arterial spin labeling imaging to differentiate solitary brain metastases from glioblastomas[J]. Magn Reson Imaging, 2023, 102: 96-102. DOI: 10.1016/j.mri.2023.05.004.

PREV Research progress of MRI machine learning in predicting the prognosis of pituitary neuroendocrine tumors
NEXT Research progress in radiomics for qualitative diagnosis of thyroid nodules
  


LINK


Tel & Fax: +8610-67113815    E-mail: editor@cjmri.cn