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The aim of this review is to illustrate normal computed tomography (CT) findings and the most common complications in patients who underwent pelvic exenteration (PE) for advanced, persistent or recurrent gynecological cancers. We review the various surgical techniques used in PE, discuss optimal CT protocols for postsurgical evaluation and describe cross-sectional imaging appearances of normal postoperative anatomic changes as well as early and late complications. The interpretation of abdominopelvic CT imaging after PE is very challenging due to remarkable modifications of normal anatomy. After this radical pelvic surgery, the familiarity with expected CT appearances is crucial for diagnosis and appropriate management of potentially life-threatening complications in patients who underwent PE.

Background: There are no standard approaches for follow up in advanced ovarian cancer (AOC) patients; the aim of this study is to evaluate correlation between computed tomography (CT) and CA 125 levels to assess early detection of recurrence or progression disease (PD)., Methods: We included 76 patients with AOC, who had prior debulking surgery, starting first or second line of chemotherapy and underwent follow-up CT examinations. Evaluation of tumor response to treatment by imaging was assessed using RECIST 1.1. Site of relapse was classified as: abdomen, chest and neck (observed in the upper chest scans)., Results: Change in CA 125 levels was calculated in respect previous evaluation at the end of treatment for each patient. The most suitable cut-offs could be identified in an increase in CA 125 levels >10.5% (sensitivity: 67.9%; specificity: 83.6%; LR+: 4.1; LR-: 0.4) in order to predict PD and in a change of -0.5% in order to exclude PD (sensitivity 83.0%; specificity: 69.6%; LR+: 2.7; LR-: 0.2). Site of relapse was abdomen (58.5%), abdomen and chest (33.9%), chest (3.8%), chest and neck (1.9%), and abdomen, chest and neck (1.9%)., Conclusions: Increase in CA 125 levels >10.5% could be sufficiently predictive of PD requiring CT examination. Change of -0.5% is sufficiently predictive of absence of PD. Increase <10.5% and >0.5% needs clinical correlation to establish correct timing and extension of CT examination. Attention must be played in reducing number and extent of CT examinations to reduce exposure dose.

Purpose To investigate the associations between BRCA mutation status and computed tomography (CT) phenotypes of high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) and to evaluate CT indicators of cytoreductive outcome and survival in patients with BRCA-mutant HGSOC and those with BRCA wild-type HGSOC. Materials and Methods This HIPAA-compliant, institutional review board-approved retrospective study included 108 patients (33 with BRCA mutant and 75 with BRCA wild-type HGSOC) who underwent CT before primary debulking. Two radiologists independently reviewed the CT findings for various qualitative CT features. Associations between CT features, BRCA mutation status, cytoreductive outcome, and progression-free survival (PFS) were evaluated by using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazards regression, respectively. Results Peritoneal disease (PD) pattern, presence of PD in gastrohepatic ligament, mesenteric involvement, and supradiaphragmatic lymphadenopathy at CT were associated with BRCA mutation status (multiple regression: P < .001 for each CT feature). While clinical and CT features were not associated with cytoreductive outcome for patients with BRCA-mutant HGSOC, presence of PD in lesser sac (odds ratio [OR] = 2.40) and left upper quadrant (OR = 1.19), mesenteric involvement (OR = 7.10), and lymphadenopathy in supradiaphragmatic (OR = 2.83) and suprarenal para-aortic (OR = 4.79) regions were associated with higher odds of incomplete cytoreduction in BRCA wild-type HGSOC (multiple regression: P < .001 each CT feature). Mesenteric involvement at CT was associated with significantly shorter PFS for both patients with BRCA-mutant HGSOC (multiple regression: hazard ratio [HR] = 26.7 P < .001) and those with BRCA wild-type HGSOC (univariate analysis: reader 1, HR = 2.42, P < .001; reader 2, HR = 2.61; P < .001). Conclusion Qualitative CT features differed between patients with BRCA-mutant HGSOC and patients with BRCA wild-type HGSOC. CT indicators of cytoreductive outcome varied according to BRCA mutation status. Mesenteric involvement at CT was an indicator of significantly shorter PFS for both patients with BRCA-mutant HGSOC and those with BRCA wild-type HGSOC. © RSNA, 2017 Online supplemental material is available for this article.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to assess the diagnostic performance of computed tomography (CT) for initial staging of non-endometrioid carcinomas of the uterine corpus., Materials and Methods: Waiving informed consent, the Institutional Review Board approved this Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant retrospective study of 193 women with uterine papillary serous carcinomas, clear cell carcinomas, and carcinosarcomas, who underwent surgical staging between May 1998 and December 2011 and had preoperative CT within 6 weeks before surgery. Two radiologists (R1, R2) independently reviewed all CT images. Sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (NPV), positive predictive value (PPV), and area under the curve were calculated using operative notes and surgical pathology as the reference standard., Results: The respective sensitivities and specificities achieved by R1/R2 were 0.79/0.64 and 0.87/0.75 for detecting deep myometrial invasion (MI) on CT; 0.56/0.63 and 0.93/0.79 for detecting cervical stromal invasion; 0.52/0.45 and 0.95/0.93 for detecting pelvic nodal metastases; and 0.45/0.30 and 0.98/0.98 for detecting para-aortic nodal metastases. Although CT had suboptimal sensitivity for the detection of omental disease, it had high PPV for omental seeding at surgical exploration (1.00 for R1 and 0.92 for R2). Inter-observer agreement ranged from moderate in the detection of deep MI (κ = 0.42 ± 0.06) to almost perfect in the detection of para-aortic nodal metastases (κ = 0.88 ± 0.08)., Conclusion: In patients with uterine non-endometrioid carcinomas, CT is only moderately accurate for initial staging but may provide clinically valuable information by 'ruling-in' isolated para-aortic lymph node metastases and omental dissemination.

Purpose: To develop a preoperative CT-based nomogram for predicting overall survival (OS) in patients with non-endometrioid carcinomas of the uterine corpus., Methods: Waiving informed consent, the institutional review board approved this HIPAA-compliant, retrospective study of 193 women with histopathologically proven uterine papillary serous carcinomas (UPSC), uterine clear cell carcinomas (UCCC), and uterine carcinosarcomas (UCS) who underwent primary surgical resection between May 1998 and December 2011, and had a preoperative CT ≤ 6 weeks before surgery. All CT scans were reviewed for local or/and regional tumor extent, presence of pelvic or/and para-aortic adenopathy, and presence of distant metastases. Univariate survival analysis was performed using log-rank test and Cox regression. Variables shown significant by the univariate analysis were evaluated with the multivariable Cox regression analysis and the results were used to create a nomogram for predicting OS. The predictive accuracy of the nomogram was assessed with the concordance probability index (c-index) and a 3-year calibration plot., Results: Mean patient age was 67.2 years (range 49.0-85.9); histologies included UPSC (n = 116), UCCC (n = 27), and UCS (n = 50). Median follow-up was 38.1 months (0.9-168.5 months). At multivariate analysis, patient age, ascites, and omental implants on CT were significant adverse predictors of OS and were used to build the nomogram. Concordance index for the nomogram was 0.640 ± 0.028., Conclusion: We developed a nomogram with a good concordance probability at predicting OS based on readily available pretreatment clinical and imaging characteristics. This preoperative nomogram has the potential to improve initial treatment planning and patient counseling.

Purpose: To investigate associations among imaging traits observed on computed tomographic (CT) images, Classification of Ovarian Cancer (CLOVAR) gene signatures, and survival in women with high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC)., Materials and Methods: The institutional review board approved this HIPAA-compliant retrospective study of CT images obtained before cytoreductive surgery in 46 women with HGSOC, whose tumors were subjected to molecular analysis performed by the Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. Two readers independently evaluated the CT features of the primary ovarian mass and sites of metastatic spread if present, including size, outline, and texture. Fisher exact test was used to examine the relationship between imaging traits and CLOVAR subtypes (CLOVAR differentiated, immunoreactive, mesenchymal, and proliferative). Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazards regression survival analyses were performed., Results: The presence of mesenteric infiltration and diffuse peritoneal involvement by tumor at CT were significantly associated with CLOVAR subtype (P = .002-.004 for reader 1 and P = .005-.012 for reader 2). Mesenteric infiltration at CT was associated with CLOVAR mesenchymal subtype. Patients with mesenteric infiltration had shorter median progression-free survival than patients without mesenteric involvement (14.7 months vs 25.6 months according to both readers; P = .019 for reader 1 and .015 for reader 2) and overall survival (49.0 vs 58.2 months; P = .014 [reader 1] and 50.0 vs 59.1 months; P = .015 [reader 2]). No other imaging features were significantly associated with CLOVAR subtype or survival., Conclusion: Specific CT imaging traits were associated with the CLOVAR subtypes and survival in patients with HGSOC.

Objective: To determine the associations of quantitative parameters derived from multiphase contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI), diffusion-weighted (DW) MRI and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron-emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) with clinico-histopathological prognostic factors, disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in patients with cervical cancer., Methods and Materials: Our institutional review board approved this retrospective study of 49 patients (median age, 45 years) with histopathologically proven IB-IVB International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) cervical cancer who underwent pre-treatment pelvic MRI and whole-body 18F-FDG PET/CT between February 2009 and May 2012. Maximum diameter (maxTD), percentage enhancement (PE) and mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADCmean) of the primary tumor were measured on MRI. Maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax), metabolic tumor volume (MTV), total lesion glycolysis (TLG) were measured on 18F-FDG PET/CT. Correlations between imaging metrics and clinico-histopathological parameters including revised 2009 FIGO stage, tumor histology, grade and lymph node (LN) metastasis at diagnosis were evaluated using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Cox modeling was used to determine associations with DFS and OS., Results: Median follow-up was 17 months. 41 patients (83.6%) were alive. 8 patients (16.3%) died of disease. Progression/recurrence occurred in 17 patients (34.6%). Significant differences were observed in ADCmean, SUVmax, MTV and TLG according to FIGO stage (p<0.001-0.025). There were significant correlations between ADCmean, MTV, TLG and LN metastasis (p=0.017-0.032). SUVmax was not associated with LN metastasis. FIGO stage (p=0.017/0.033), LN metastases (p=0.001/0.020), ADCmean (p=0.007/0.020) and MTV (p=0.014/0.026) were adverse predictors of both DFS/OS. maxTD (p=0.005) and TLG (p=0.024) were adverse predictors of DFS. PE and SUVmax did not correlate with DFS or OS (p=0.18-0.72)., Conclusions: Quantitative parameters derived from pre-treatment DW-MRI (ADCmean) and from 18F-FDG PET/CT (MTV and TLG) were associated with high-risk features and may serve as prognostic biomarkers of survival in patients with cervical cancer., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Different treatment options are available for patients with gynecological cancers. Imaging plays an important role in assessment of patients with common cancers involving uterine body, cervix and ovaries, from detection to evaluation of the extent of disease. The purpose of this review is to highlight the role of cross-sectional imaging techniques in treatment stratification and overall management of patients with endometrial, cervical and ovarian cancers. Several imaging techniques used are described, including ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), MRI and PET/CT. Specific imaging appearances of the most common uterine, cervical and ovarian cancers are discussed. Imaging findings corresponding to the 2009 revised International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging of gynecologic malignancies are also described. In the multidisciplinary evaluation of patients with gynecologic malignancies, the role of the radiologist has become central for accurate diagnosis and evaluation of extent of disease to achieve better treatment selection and planning.