LOCAL STAGING OF RECTAL CANCER WITH CONVENTIONAL AND DIFFUSION-WEIGHTED MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING

Abstract

In this article we present up-to-date views on rectal cancer imaging. Accurate initial and follow-up staging of rectal cancer is vitally important and provides information essential for treatment decision making, preoperative therapy and surgery planning. Almost worldwide magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is currently considered as the most advanced staging modality for rectal cancer; however conventional MRI sequences have some diagnostic limits and not always allow to differentiate fibrotic tissue (present either desmoplastic reaction or fibrotic changes due to preoperative radiotherapy) from tumor. On the basis of our own experience and published data we tried to demonstrate imaging possibilities of conventional and diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI in local staging of rectal cancer.

Keywords

• rectal cancer imaging
• magnetic resonance imaging in rectal cancer staging
• diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in tumor response assessment
• magnetic resonance imaging in rectal cancer delineation