ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Imaging and Image-directed Interventions
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancing Cancer Imaging Technologies: Bridging the Gap from Research to Clinical Practice Volume IIView all 18 articles
Association of Regional Specificity of Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability with Pathological Subtypes in Cerebral White Matter of Patients with Non-Brain Metastatic Lung Cancer
Provisionally accepted
Haotian Wang1Jian Zeng1Zhengzhen Li1Yonglong Li1Yi Wang1Xiufu Zhang1Jun Zhou1Hongying Liu2
Chunrong Wu2*
Ruipeng Liang1*- 1Department of Radiology, Chongqing University Jiangjin Hospital, Jiangjin, China
- 2Department of Oncology, Chongqing University Jiangjin Hospital, Jiangjin, China
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Objective: To investigate blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability abnormalities in cerebral white matter regions of non-brain metastatic lung cancer (LC) patients and their association with histopathological subtypes. Methods: 221 subjects (74 Healthy Controls [HC], 78 LC, 69 LC with Brain Metastasis [LCBM]) were enrolled. LC was subdivided into Adenocarcinoma (ADC), Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC), Small Cell Lung Cancer (SCLC). Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) assessed Ktrans, Kep, Ve, Vp in deep (frontal/parietal/temporal/occipital lobes) and periventricular (anterior/posterior horns) white matter. Non-parametric tests were used (p<0.05 significant). Results: LC group had Ktrans comparable to LCBM but higher than HC (p<0.05), mainly in deep white matter and posterior periventricular regions (anterior periventricular: p>0.05). ADC showed higher Ktrans, Kep, Vp than SCC (all p<0.001) and SCLC (Ktrans/Kep p<0.001; Vp p=0.71); Ve was lower than SCLC (p=0.003) but higher than SCC (p=0.001). SCLC had higher Ve than SCC (p<0.0001), with higher Ktrans/Vp than SCC (p<0.01). Vp correlated positively with Ktrans in ADC/SCC (r=0.433/0.359, p<0.001), not in SCLC. Conclusion: LC impairs BBB integrity via paraneoplastic effects, with subtype heterogeneity: ADC (high perfusion/leakage) involves global white matter; SCLC (prominent interstitial disruption) affects mainly deep regions. Findings aid LC brain metastasis risk stratification and neuroprotective strategies.
Keywords: Blood-Brain Barrier, brain metastatic, Cerebral white matter, DCE- MRI, lung cancer
Received: 01 Oct 2025; Accepted: 29 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Wang, Zeng, Li, Li, Wang, Zhang, Zhou, Liu, Wu and Liang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Chunrong Wu
Ruipeng Liang
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