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Research progress of intravoxel incoherent motion MRI in the diagnosis and treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma
MU Jiaxin  XU Hao  ZHOU Peng  YANG Ningjing 

Cite this article as: MU J X, XU H, ZHOU P, et al. Research progress of intravoxel incoherent motion MRI in the diagnosis and treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2026, 17(3): 181-186. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.03.026.


[Abstract] Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most prevalent head and neck malignancies in China. Although NPC is sensitive to chemoradiotherapy and the 5-year overall survival rate has significantly improved due to the adoption of advanced radiotherapy equipment and multimodal treatment strategies, locoregional recurrence and distant metastasis remain the primary causes of treatment failure. Therefore, early, non-invasive, and accurate assessment is crucial for formulating individualized treatment plans and improving survival outcomes. Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM), a diffusion-weighted imaging technique capable of simultaneously measuring diffusion and perfusion, has demonstrated superior value compared to conventional diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the evaluation of NPC. However, the predictive value of IVIM-derived parameters regarding treatment efficacy and prognosis remains a subject of controversy. Recently, IVIM-based radiomics and habitat analysis have partially addressed this limitation and enhanced the performance of predictive models by deeply characterizing tumor heterogeneity. This review summarizes the current applications of IVIM in the treatment evaluation, prognostic analysis, diagnosis, and differential diagnosis of NPC. It highlights the advantages and limitations of IVIM-derived parametric in these three aspects and delves into recent advances in radiomics and habitat analysis, with the aim of optimizing the individualized assessment system for NPC management.
[Keywords] nasopharyngeal carcinoma；magnetic resonance imaging；intravoxel incoherent motion；radiomics；diagnosis and treatment

MU Jiaxin1   XU Hao2   ZHOU Peng2   YANG Ningjing2*  

1 College of Medicine and Life Sciences, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu 611137, China

2 Department of Radiology, Sichuan Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Sichuan Cancer Hospital, Sichuan Cancer Center, Affiliated Cancer Hospital of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610041, China

Corresponding author: YANG N J, E-mail: yangningjing@scszlyy.org.cn

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2025-12-04
Accepted  2026-03-03
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.03.026
Cite this article as: MU J X, XU H, ZHOU P, et al. Research progress of intravoxel incoherent motion MRI in the diagnosis and treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2026, 17(3): 181-186. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2026.03.026.

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