To date, only a few studies have investigated relationships between Diffusion-weighted
imaging (DWI) and Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression in tumors. The reported
results are contradictory. The aim of the present analysis was to review the published results and
to perform a meta-analysis regarding associations between apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC)
derived from DWI and VEGF expression. MEDLINE library was screened for relationships between
ADC and VEGF expression up to January 2019. Overall, 14 studies with 578 patients were identified.
In 10 studies (71.4%) 3 T scanners were used and in four studies (28.6%) 1.5 T scanners. Furthermore,
seven studies (50%) had a prospective design and seven studies (50%) had a retrospective design.
Most frequently, prostate cancer, followed by rectal cancer, cervical cancer and esophageal cancer were
identified. The pooled correlation coeffcient of all tumors was r = 0.02 [95% CI 0.26–0.21]. ADC
values derived from routinely acquired DWI do not correlate with VEGF expression in various tumors.
Therefore, DWI is not sensitive enough to reflect angiogenesis-related microstructure of tumors
