Optimal Imaging Strategies for Rectal Cancer Staging and Ongoing Management.
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Balyasnikova, S
Brown, G
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
OPINION STATEMENT: Imaging determines the optimal treatment for rectal cancer patients. High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) overcomes many of the known limitations of previous methods. When performed in accordance with the recommended standards, MRI enables accurate staging of both early and advanced rectal cancer, accurate response assessment, the delineation of recurrent disease and planning surgical treatment in a safe and effective manner. Tumour-related high-risk features with known adverse outcomes can be preoperatively identified and treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Further, MRI post-treatment tumour response assessment using TRG grading system also predicts the likely survival outcomes and in the future will be used to modify treatment further by stratification into good and poor responders. There is a paucity of literature with validated outcome data concerning use of diffusion-weighted imaging and positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT), and in the absence of any validated methods and outcome data, their use in the initial assessment and restaging after treatment is limited to research protocols. Combination MRI and CT is essential for distant spread assessment and recurrent disease, and currently PET-CT is sometimes used in the workup of patients with recurrent and metastatic disease.
Date Issued
2016-06-02
Date Acceptance
2016-06-02
Citation
Current Treatment Options in Oncology, 2016, 17 (6)
ISSN
1534-6277
Publisher
Springer Verlag (Germany)
Journal / Book Title
Current Treatment Options in Oncology
Volume
17
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2016. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
License URL
Identifier
PII: 10.1007/s11864-016-0403-7
Subjects
CRM
EMVI
ERUS
Early and advanced rectal cancer
High-resolution MRI
N stage
PET/CT
Rectal cancer staging
Recurrent and mucinous rectal cancer
Response assessment
T stage
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
32