Abstract: This article explored the diagnostic value of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) parameters combined with tripartite motif-containing protein 44 (TRIM44) gene in pathological staging of endometrial cancer (EC). A total of 140 patients with endometrial lesions were included in this study, all of whom underwent DWI examination. According to the surgical and pathological results, 83 patients were diagnosed with EC (EC group), and 57 patients were diagnosed with benign endometrial lesions (benign group). Serum TRIM44 mRNA levels of patients were detected by qRT-PCR. The results showed that compared with the benign group, the mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADCmean) and minimum apparent diffusion coefficient (ADCmin) of the EC group were significantly decreased, while the relative expression of serum TRIM44 mRNA was significantly increased (P<0.001). ADCmean and ADCmin were negatively correlated with serum TRIM44 (r=－0.305, －0.325,P<0.001). Compared with the FIGO stage Ⅰ group, the ADCmean of stage Ⅱ-Ⅳ group was significantly decreased, while the relative expression of serum TRIM44 mRNA was significantly increased (P<0.05). The ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of ADCmean, ADCmin and serum TRIM44 mRNA relative expression in the diagnosis of EC were 0.808, 0.830 and 0.818, respectively, and the AUC of combined diagnosis (0.936) was higher than that of single diagnosis. The AUC of ADCmean, ADCmin and serum TRIM44 mRNA relative expression in the diagnosis of FIGO stage Ⅱ-Ⅳ were 0.657, 0.632 and 0.733,respectively. The AUC (0.769) and specificity (87.50%) of combined diagnosis were higher than those of single diagnosis. DWI parameters (ADCmean, ADCmin) combined with serum TRIM44 can improve the diagnostic accuracy of EC and FIGO staging.

Key words: diffusion-weighted imaging, tripartite motif-containing protein 44, endometrial cancer, apparent diffusion coefficient, FIGO staging