Search

We thank Isabelle Thomassin-Nagarra et al for their interest in the ESGO/ISUOG/IOTA/ESGE consensus statement on the pre-operative diagnosis of ovarian tumors. This statement is based on a careful review of the relevant literature and available evidence as well as on structured discussions between

BACKGROUND: An isovolumetric intragastric balloon to continuously measure gastric phasic contractility was recently developed by us. We aimed to investigate the readout of this technique in relation to gastric content and gastric emptying. METHODS: In this crossover investigation, the VIPUNTM Gastric Monitoring System, which comprises a double lumen nasogastric feeding tube with integrated intragastric balloon, was used to assess phasic gastric contractility by interpretation of the pressure in an isovolumetric balloon in 10 healthy subjects. Balloon pressure was recorded in fasted state, during a 2-hour intragastric nutrient infusion (1 kcal/ml at 25, 75, or 250 ml/h) and 4 hours post-infusion, and quantified as Gastric Balloon Motility Index (GBMI), ranging from 0 (no contractility) to 1 (maximal contractility). Gastric accumulation was quantified with magnetic resonance imaging and gastric emptying with a13 C-breath test. Results are expressed as mean(SD). KEY RESULTS: GBMI was significantly lower during infusion at 250 ml/h compared to baseline (0.13(0.05) versus 0.46(0.12)) and compared to infusion at 25 (0.54(0.21)) and 75 ml/h (0.43(0.20)), all P 0 ml compared to when the stomach was empty. CONCLUSIONS AND INFERENCES: Enteral nutrition dose-dependently decreased the contractility readout. This decrease was linked to gastric accumulation of enteral nutrition. ispartof: Neurogastroenterology And Motility vol:33 issue:7 ispartof: location:England status: accepted

Over the past decade, updated definitions for the different stages of prostate cancer and risk for distant disease, along with the advent of new therapies, have remarkably changed the management of patients. The two expectations from imaging are accurate staging and appropriate assessment of disease response to therapies. Modern, next-generation imaging (NGI) modalities, including whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) and nuclear medicine (most often prostate-specific membrane antigen [PSMA] positron emission tomography [PET]/computed tomography [CT]) bring added value to these imaging tasks. WB-MRI has proven its superiority over bone scintigraphy (BS) and CT for the detection of distant metastasis, also providing reliable evaluations of disease response to treatment. Comparison of the effectiveness of WB-MRI and molecular nuclear imaging techniques with regard to indications and the definition of their respective/complementary roles in clinical practice is ongoing. This paper illustrates the evolution of WB-MRI imaging protocols, defines the current state-of-the art, and highlights the latest developments and future challenges. The paper presents and discusses WB-MRI indications in the care pathway of men with prostate cancer in specific key situations: response assessment of metastatic disease, "all in one" cancer staging, and oligometastatic disease.

Background & Aims SORAMIC is a prospective phase II randomised controlled trial in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It consists of 3 parts: a diagnostic study and 2 therapeutic studies with either curative ablation or palliative Yttrium-90 radioembolisation combined with sorafenib. We report the diagnostic cohort study aimed to determine the accuracy of gadoxetic acid-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including hepatobiliary phase (HBP) imaging features compared with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT). The primary objective was the accuracy of treatment decisions stratifying patients for curative or palliative (non-ablation) treatment. Methods Patients with clinically suspected HCC underwent gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI (HBP MRI, including dynamic MRI) and contrast-enhanced CT. Blinded read of the image data was performed by 2 reader groups (radiologists, R1 and R2). A truth panel with access to all clinical data and follow-up imaging served as reference. Imaging criteria for curative ablation were defined as up to 4 lesions 4 lesions significantly more frequently than CT. Conclusions In HCC, HBP MRI provided a more accurate decision than CT for a curative vs. palliative treatment strategy. Lay summary Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma are allocated to curative or palliative treatment according to the stage of their disease. Hepatobiliary imaging using gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI is more accurate than CT for treatment decision-making., Graphical abstract, Highlights • Comparison of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI vs. contrast-enhanced multi-slice CT to stratify patients with suspected HCC. • Clinical decision-making was shown to be significantly more accurate with gadoxetic acid-enhanced hepatobiliary MRI than CT. • To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study linking a clinical decision endpoint to hepatobiliary MRI criteria for HCC diagnosis. • The results of our international multicentre trial could guide recommendations on the diagnostic management of HCC.

Background: Accurate staging of patients with gastric cancer is necessary for selection of the most appropriate and personalized therapy. Computed Tomography (CT) is currently used as primary staging tool, being widely available with a relatively high accuracy for the detection of parenchymal metastases, but with low sensitivity for the detection of peritoneal metastases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has a very high spatial and contrast resolution, suggesting a higher diagnostic performance in the detection of small peritoneal lesions. The aim of this study was to retrospectively evaluate the added value of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI/MRI) to CT for detection of peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) and distant metastases in the preoperative staging of gastric cancer.Methods: This retrospective study included thirty-two patients with a suspicion of gastric cancer/recurrence, who underwent WB-DWI/MRI at 1.5 Tesla, in addition to CT of thorax and abdomen. Images were evaluated by two experienced abdominal radiologists in consensus. Histopathology, laparoscopy and/or 1-year follow-up were used as reference standard.Results: For overall tumor detection (n=32), CT sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) was 83.3%, 100%, 100% and 82.4% respectively. For WB-DWI/MRI these values were 100%, 92.9%, 94.7% and 100%, respectively. For staging (n=18) malignant lymph nodes and metastases, CT had a sensitivity, specificity/ PPV/ NPV of 50%/ 100%/ 100%/ 71.4%, and 15.4%/ 100%/ 100%/ 31.3% respectively. For WB-DWI/MRI, all values were 100%, for both malignant lymph nodes and metastases. WB-DWI/MRI was significantly better than CT in detecting tumor infiltration of the mesenteric root, serosal involvement of the small bowel and peritoneal metastases for which WB-DWI/MRI was correct in 100% of these cases, CT 0%.Conclusions: WB-DWI/MRI is highly accurate for diagnosis, staging and follow-up of patients with suspected gastric cancer. These results need to be confirmed in larger studies.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the diagnostic performance of intra-arterial dual phase cone-beam computed tomography (DP-CBCT) with contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CE-CT) when characterizing tumor burden in patients with metastatic liver cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 29 patients with colorectal (n =10), breast (n = 9) and neuroendocrine (n = 10) liver metastases, referred for catheter-directed treatment. Tumor type, number, maximum size, and appearance were assessed. Paired-sample t-tests compared image quality, tumor numbers, and diameters between imaging modalities. RESULTS: Image quality was not different between DP-CBCT and CE-CT (p = 0.9). In 18 patients (62%) DP-CBCT and CE-CT showed diffuse, uncountable metastases in the liver. Of the remaining 11 patients, DP-CBCT identified two patients with diffuse tumors that appeared as a sum of 17 distinct metastases on CE-CT. In the remaining nine patients a total of 102 metastases were found using both DP-CBCT and CE-CT. Tumor detection accuracy was 98% in DP-CBCT and 67% in CE-CT (p = 0.025). Metastases were larger in diameter on DP-CBCT: colorectal: 57 +/- 9.5 mm versus 43 +/- 8.3 mm (p = 0.02); breast: 57 +/- 10 mm versus 43 +/- 8.5 mm (p = 0.03) and neuroendocrine: 56 +/- 6.3 mm versus 51 +/- 5.8 mm (p = 0.01). Rim enhancement appeared in 100% of patients with colorectal and 89% of patients with breast metastases on DP-CBCT, but was variable on CE-CT. Neuroendocrine tumors had variable rim enhancement within the same patient and across imaging modalities. CONCLUSIONS: DP-CBCT of the liver may demonstrate larger metastatic tumor burden and lesion size with a variable contrast enhancement compared to CE-CT. ispartof: JOURNAL OF THE BELGIAN SOCIETY OF RADIOLOGY vol:104 issue:1 ispartof: location:England status: published

Proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs), frequently prescribed to lower gastric acid secretion, often exert an effect on the absorption of co-medicated drug products. A previous study showed decreased plasma levels of the lipophilic drug ritonavir after co-administration with the PPI Nexium (40 mg esomeprazole), even though duodenal concentrations were not affected. The present study explored if a PPI-induced decrease in gastrointestinal (GI) fluid volume might contribute to the reduced absorption of ritonavir. In an exploratory cross-over study, five volunteers were given a Norvir tablet (100 mg ritonavir) orally, once without PPI pre-treatment and once after a three-day pre-treatment with the PPI esomeprazole. Blood samples were collected for eight hours to assess ritonavir absorption and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to determine the gastric and duodenal fluid volumes during the first three hours after administration of the tablet. The results confirmed that PPI intake reduced ritonavir plasma concentrations by 40%. The gastric residual volume and gastric fluid volume decreased by 41% and 44% respectively, while the duodenal fluid volume was reduced by 33%. These data suggest that the PPI esomeprazole lowers the available fluid volume for dissolution, which may limit the amount of ritonavir that can be absorbed. Although additional factors may play a role, the effect of PPI intake on the GI fluid volume should be considered when simulating the absorption of poorly soluble drugs like ritonavir in real-life conditions. ispartof: PHARMACEUTICS vol:12 issue:7 ispartof: location:Switzerland status: published

Accurate and timely response assessment and follow-up by imaging are pivotal for guiding radiotherapeutic management of head and neck cancer. Primarily, post-treatment imaging should aim to detect tumour recurrence as early as possible in order to maximize success of salvage surgery and determine the need for neck dissection. Second, post-treatment imaging has a pivotal role in the differentiation of tumour recurrence from toxicity-induced complication like necrosis or ulcerations and the detection of delayed onset of locoregional, metastatic recurrence and second primary cancers.

BACKGROUND: In well-responding patients to chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC), a watch-and-wait strategy can be considered. To implement organ-sparing strategies, accurate patient selection is needed. We investigate the use of MRI-based radiomics models to predict tumor response to improve patient selection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Models were developed in a cohort of 70 patients and validated in an external cohort of 55 patients. Patients received chemoradiation followed by surgery and underwent T2-weighted and diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) before and after chemoradiation. The outcome measure was (near-)complete pathological tumor response (ypT0-1N0). Tumor segmentation was done on T2-images and transferred to b800-images and ADC maps, after which quantitative and four semantic features were extracted. We combined features using principal component analysis and built models using LASSO regression analysis. The best models based on precision and performance were selected for validation. RESULTS: 21/70 patients (30%) achieved ypT0-1N0 in the development cohort versus 13/55 patients (24%) in the validation cohort. Three models (t2_dwi_pre_post, semantic_dwi_adc_pre, semantic_dwi_post) were identified with an area-under-the-curve (AUC) of 0.83 (95% CI 0.70-0.95), 0.86 (95% CI 0.75-0.98) and 0.84 (95% CI 0.75-0.94) respectively. Two models (t2_dwi_pre_post, semantic_dwi_post) validated well in the external cohort with AUCs of 0.83 (95% CI 0.70-0.95) and 0.86 (95% CI 0.76-0.97). These models however did not outperform a previously established four-feature semantic model. CONCLUSION: Prediction models based on MRI radiomics non-invasively predict tumor response after chemoradiation for rectal cancer and can be used as an additional tool to identify patients eligible for an organ-preserving treatment. ispartof: RADIOTHERAPY AND ONCOLOGY vol:142 pages:246-252 ispartof: location:Ireland status: published

Combination therapy using a BRAF and MEK inhibitor significantly improves both progression-free and overall survival in patients with BRAF V600-mutated stage IV melanoma. Dual MAPK inhibition achieves an objective response in the majority of patients. We present a case of a woman with BRAF V600E-mutated malignant melanoma and rapidly progressing liver, bone, and lymph node metastases. The patient commenced dabrafenib and trametinib with clinical and biochemical signs of response after 2 days. On day 3 she developed grade 3 liver hemorrhage, which was successfully embolized. Her anemia responded appropriately to transfusions and stabilized after interventional resolution of the hemorrhagic event. Subsequently she developed a pathological fracture of the right proximal humerus. MRI showed cystic bone metastases with stigmata of bleeding. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of a patient with hemorrhage of both liver and bone metastases of a melanoma. As the patient responded rapidly to dabrafenib and trametinib we hypothesize that the hemorrhage may be due to rapid tumor necrosis and bleeding of affected tumor supplying blood vessels. Our case demonstrates the importance of considering tumoral bleeding as a side effect of BRAF and MEK inhibition in responding melanoma patients. Mechanical intervention can be effective in resolving this treatment-related adverse event.

Background Gastro-intestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are very rare tumors of the gastro-intestinal tract, originating from the interstitial cells of Cajal or a common cell precursor which both express type III tyrosine kinase receptors. Regorafenib is an oral multi-kinase inhibitor used to treat gastro-intestinal stromal tumors. To our knowledge this is the first case in literature to show the response of regorafenib on PET. Case presentation A 37-year-old male with lower abdominal pain and weight loss was referred to our hospital. Abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) showed diffuse peritoneal implants. Surgical specimen histology showed a GIST with c-KIT exon 11 deletion (c.1708_1728del) and treatment with imatinib 400 mg/day was initiated. Due to disease progression illustrated on baseline versus follow-up 18F–FDG-PET/CT scans therapy was switched to imatinib 800 mg/day and later to sunitinib 50 mg/day. Upon further disease progression 10 months later, third line treatment with regorafenib 160 mg/day was initiated. 18F–FDG-PET/CT showed the metabolic responses after 4 months regorafenib treatment ranging from complete response to the appearance of a new lesion in the liver. The new hypermetabolic lesion was only seen on the non-attenuation-corrected images because of breathing motion artifact. Conclusion This case illustrates that metabolic response can occur in GIST lesions without morphological response after third line regorafinib treatment. Furthermore this is the first case in literature to show regorafinib response on PET.

Background and purpose To safely implement organ preserving treatment strategies for patients with rectal cancer, well-considered selection of patients with favourable response is needed. In this study, we develop and validate an MRI-based response predicting model. Methods A multivariate model using T2-volumetric and DWI parameters before and 6 weeks after chemoradiation (CRT) was developed using a cohort of 85 rectal cancer patients and validated in an external cohort of 55 patients that underwent preoperative CRT. Results Twenty-two patients (26%) achieved ypT0-1N0 response in the development cohort versus 13 patients (24%) in the validation cohort. Two T2-volumetric parameters (ΔVolume% and Sphere_post) and two DWI parameters (ADC_avg_post and ADCratio_avg) were retained in a model predicting (near-)complete response (ypT0-1N0). In the development cohort, this model had a good predictive performance (AUC = 0.89; 95% CI 0.80–0.98). Validation of the model in an external cohort resulted in a similar performance (AUC = 0.88 95% CI 0.79–0.98). Conclusion An MRI-based prediction model of (near-)complete pathological response following CRT in rectal cancer patients, shows a high predictive performance in an external validation cohort. The clinically relevant features in the model make it an interesting tool for implementation of organ-preserving strategies in rectal cancer.

Background Cytoreductive surgery (CRS) plus hyperthermic intra-operative peritoneal chemotherapy (HIPC) for gastric peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is controversial, and selection criteria for this treatment modality are lacking. Methods Thirty-two patients (F/M ratio 12/20; median (range) age 58 (32-75) years) underwent CRS + HIPC with cisplatin for PC from gastric adenocarcinoma in 2010-2014. This monocentric phase-2 nonrandomized prospective study with a power of 90% aimed to improve the 1-year overall survival (OS) rate with 40% (historical reference of 52% to 72%). Median PCI score was 8 (range 1-20), number of regions involved was 6 (range 1-11). The impact of 16 prognostic factors on survival was evaluated using univariable and multivariable Cox regression models. Follow-up was complete in all patients, and closed 2 years after patient inclusion. Results All patients had complete cytoreduction (CCR-0) and histopathological R0 resection. PCI

10530 Background: Germline pathogenic variants (PV) in the tumor suppressor gene TP53 are associated with a high risk of developing diverse malignancies, often at young age, and predispose to Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS). Surveillance programs for presymptomatic PV carriers have shown survival benefit in a non-randomized trial. Here we describe the surveillance findings and clinical outcomes of adults with TP53 PV undergoing a standardized screening protocol. Methods: We identified adults with germline PV in TP53 who underwent surveillance at the University Hospitals Leuven, Belgium, between 04/2013 and 08/2020. Patients with prior cancer were allowed, while patients with an active malignancy requiring treatment at diagnosis of the TP53 PV were excluded. Surveillance was performed per modified Toronto protocol, including annual whole body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI/MRI), brain MRI, abdominal ultrasound (US), endoscopic surveillance, laboratory tests, dermatological examination and breast MRI/US in females. The primary aim was to evaluate the number and type of malignancies and premalignant lesions diagnosed during screening and to assess the proportion of malignancies detected by surveillance. Secondary outcomes were the cancer detection rate during the first year of screening, the proportion of carriers with false-positive findings, and overall survival. Results: We included 42 adults from 20 apparently unrelated families. Median age was 38y (range, 17-70y) and 23 had a history of prior cancer. After a median follow-up of 41.5mo, we diagnosed 18 cancers in 12/42 participants (29%). Overall survival was 95% in all participants, including 2 carriers who opted to discontinue surveillance. Surveillance detected 10/18 cancers (56%), the majority of whom through WB-DWI/MRI (6/10; 60%). No malignancies were identified with brain MRI. In 5/42 individuals (12%), surveillance detected a malignancy during the first year of screening. Only 2/10 cancers discovered with surveillance (1 soft tissue and 1 bone sarcoma) belong to the LFS core tumors. Cancers not detected with surveillance (8/18) were 6 non-melanoma skin cancers and 2 interval cancers (sarcoma post radiation, secondary acute leukemia). Additionally, we detected 27 premalignant lesions in 11/42 patients (26%), of whom 78% were diagnosed by colonoscopy. False-positive findings occurred in 7/42 patients (17%) and were mostly seen with WB-DWI/MRI. Conclusions: Adults with germline PV in TP53 that undergo surveillance have high cancer detection rates. The majority of malignancies were asymptomatic at diagnosis and detected with WB-DWI/MRI. Despite the high cancer incidence, few LFS core cancers were diagnosed and survival was encouraging. Increased genetic testing changes the clinical picture of germline TP53 carrier populations, justifying the transition from LFS to a wider concept of heritable TP53-related cancer syndrome.

To describe the added value of novel functional MRI techniques towards detection, staging, characterization, response monitoring and prognostication in gynaecological cancer.Functional MRI including diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI)-MRI and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI adds structural, hemodynamic and physiological information to anatomical MRI. In endometrial and cervical cancer, the addition of DWI-MRI and DCE-MRI improves tumour detection as well as staging of uterine and extra-uterine pelvic spread. Quantitative assessment of DWI and DCE-MRI reflecting tissue properties of biological aggressiveness or treatment resistance may enable the prediction of risk of extra-uterine or extra-ovarian disease spread, predict risk of recurrence and assess treatment response. DWI shows high accuracy for detecting peritoneal metastases and allows for comprehensive staging of (recurrent) ovarian cancer following the clinical development of whole body DWI-MRI.The added value of DWI/DCE-MRI for characterization and staging of gynaecological malignancy is becoming increasingly established and may improve treatment stratification. Ongoing multicentre studies are expected to further consolidate its use in clinical routine. Quantitative evaluation of functional MRI may help in prognostication and risk stratification.

We sought to investigate anticancer efficacy of a vascular disrupting agent (VDA) combretastatin A-4 phosphate (CA4P) in relation to tumor size among hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) in rats using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and postmortem techniques. Nineteen rats with 43 chemically-induced HCCs of 2.8-20.9 mm in size on liver cirrhosis received CA4P intravenously at 10 mg/kg. Tumor-diameter was measured by T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) to define microcancers (< 5 mm) versus larger HCCs. Vascular responses and tissue necrosis were detected by diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging (CE-T1WI) and dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE-) MRI, which were validated by microangiography and histopathology. MRI revealed nearly complete necrosis in 5 out of 7 micro-HCCs, but diverse therapeutic necrosis in larger HCCs with a positive correlation with tumor size. Necrosis in micro-HCCs was 36.9% more than that in larger HCCs. While increased diffusion coefficient (ADCdiff) suggested tumor necrosis, perfusion coefficient (ADCperf) indicated sharply decreased blood perfusion in cirrhotic liver together with a reduction in micro-HCCs. DCE revealed lowered tumor blood flow from intravascular into extravascular extracellular space (EES). Microangiography and histopathology revealed hypo- and hypervascularity in 4 and 3 micro-HCCs, massive, partial and minor degrees of tumoral necrosis in 5, 1 and 1 micro-HCCs respectively, and patchy necrotic foci in cirrhotic liver. CD34-PAS staining implicated that poorly vascularized micro-HCCs growing on liver cirrhosis tended to respond better to CA4P treatment. In this study, more complete CA4P-response occurred unexpectedly in micro-HCCs in rats, along with CA4P-induced necrotic foci in cirrhotic liver. These may help to plan clinical applications of VDAs in patients with HCCs and liver cirrhosis. ispartof: Oncotarget vol:8 issue:33 pages:55204-55215 ispartof: location:United States status: published

Background and purpose To explore the integration of imaging and molecular data for response prediction to chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for rectal cancer. Material and methods Eighty-five rectal cancer patients underwent preoperative CRT. 18 F-FDG PET/CT and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) were acquired before (TP1) and during CRT (TP2) and prior to surgery (TP3). Inflammatory cytokines and gene expression were analysed. Tumour response was defined as ypT0-1N0. Multivariate models were built combining the obtained parameters. Final models were calculated on the data combination with the highest AUC. Results Twenty-two patients (26%) achieved ypT0-1N0 response. 18 F-FDG PET/CT had worse predictive performance than DWI and T2-volumetry (AUC 0.61±0.04, 0.72±0.03, and 0.72±0.02, respectively). Combining all imaging parameters increased the AUC to 0.81±0.03. Adding cytokines or gene expression did not improve the AUC (AUC of 0.72±0.06 and 0.79±0.04 respectively). Final models combining 18 F-FDG PET/CT, DWI, and T2-weighted volumetry at all TPs and using only TP1 and TP3, allowed ypT0-1N0 prediction with a 75% sensitivity, 94% specificity and PPV of 80%. Conclusions Combining 18 F-FDG PET/CT, DWI, and T2-weighted MRI volumetry obtained before CRT and prior to surgery may help physicians in selecting rectal cancer patients for organ-preservation.

Despite excellent per-lesion performance for peritoneal staging, the additional clinical value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI/MRI) compared to computed tomography (CT) remains to be established in ovarian cancer. Our purpose was to evaluate whole body (WB)-DWI/MRI for diagnosis, staging and operability assessment of patients suspected for ovarian cancer compared to CT. One hundred and sixty-one patients suspected for ovarian carcinoma underwent 3 T WB-DWI/MRI and contrast-enhanced CT. WB-DWI/MRI and CT were compared for confirmation of the malignant nature and primary origin of the ovarian mass, Fédération Internationale de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique (FIGO) staging and prediction of incomplete resection using institutional operability criteria. Interobserver agreement between two readers was determined for WB-DWI/MRI and CT. WB-DWI/MRI showed a significantly higher accuracy than CT (93 versus 82%, p = 0.001) to confirm the malignant nature of the ovarian mass and correctly identified 26 of 32 (81%) cancers of non-ovarian origin compared to 10/32 (31%) for CT (p < 0.001). WB-DWI/MRI assigned more ovarian carcinoma patients to the correct FIGO stage (82/94, 87%) compared with CT (33/94, 35%). For prediction of incomplete resection, WB-DWI/MRI showed significantly higher sensitivity (94 versus 66%), specificity (97.7 versus 77.3%) and accuracy (95.7 versus 71.3%) compared to CT (p < 0.001). Interobserver agreement was almost perfect (κ = 0.90) for WB-DWI/MRI and moderate (κ = 0.52) for CT for prediction of incomplete resection. WB-DWI/MRI was superior to CT for primary tumour characterisation, staging and prediction of incomplete resection in patients suspected for ovarian cancer

We performed post hoc analyses on the utility of pretherapeutic and early interim

Endometrial cancer is staged according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) guidelines which are developed independently from imaging [1]. Major prognostic factors for endometrial cancer comprise histologic grade and lymphovascular invasion, local tumor extent including depth of myometrial invasion and cervical stromal involvement, and extrauterine tumor spread including nodal and distant metastatic spread [2]. Although FIGO guidelines do not recommend cross-sectional imaging as routine diagnostic modalities, CT, MRI, and FDG-PET/CT have an increasing role in the management of endometrial cancer patients as they also allow assessment of distant nodal or visceral disease spread [3]. At the time of diagnosis of endometrial cancer, imaging is most important for staging of locoregional and distant tumor extent and for prognostication. The purpose of this chapter is to present a general overview of conventional and newly developed imaging concepts for endometrial cancer.

BACKGROUND: Early cancer diagnosis might improve survival rates. As circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) carries cancer-specific modifications, it has great potential as a noninvasive biomarker for detection of incipient tumors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We collected cell-free DNA (cfDNA) samples of 1002 elderly without a prior malignancy, carried out whole-genome massive parallel sequencing and scrutinized the mapped sequences for the presence of (sub)chromosomal copy number alterations (CNAs) predictive for a malignancy. When imbalances were detected, 6-monthly clinical follow-up was carried out. RESULTS: In 3% of participants chromosomal imbalances were detected. Follow-up analyses, including whole-body MRI screening, confirmed the presence of five hematologic malignancies: one Hodgkin lymphoma (HL), stage II; three non-HL (type chronic lymphocytic leukemia, Rai I-Binet A; type SLL, stage III; type mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, stage I) and one myelodysplastic syndrome with excess blasts, stage II. The CNAs detected in cfDNA were tumor-specific. Furthermore, one case was identified with monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis, a potential precursor of B-cell malignancy. In 24 additional individuals, CNAs were identified but no cancer diagnosis was made. For 9 of them, the aberrant cfDNA profile originated from peripheral blood cells. For 15 others the origin of aberrations in cfDNA remains undetermined. CONCLUSION(S): Genomewide profiling of cfDNA in apparently healthy individuals enables the detection of incipient hematologic malignancies as well as clonal mosaicism with unknown clinical significance. CNA screening of cellular DNA of peripheral blood in elderly has established that clonal mosaicism for these chromosomal anomalies predicts a 5- to 10-fold enhanced risk of a subsequent cancer. We demonstrate that cfDNA screening detects CNAs, which are not only derived from peripheral blood, but even more from other tissues. Since the clinical relevance of clonal mosaics in other tissues remains unknown, long-term follow-up is warranted. Taken together, this study demonstrates that genomewide cfDNA analysis has potential as an unbiased screening approach for hematological malignancies and premalignant conditions. ispartof: ANNALS OF ONCOLOGY vol:30 issue:1 pages:85-95 ispartof: location:England status: published

PURPOSE: To evaluate the prognostic utility of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) changes at whole-body diffusion-weighted (WB-DW) MRI after one treatment cycle for aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) compared with response assessment at interim and end-of-treatment fluorine 18 ((18)F) fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a secondary analysis of a prospective study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01231269) in which participants with aggressive NHL were recruited between March 2011 and April 2015 and underwent WB-DW MRI before and after one cycle of immunochemotherapy. Volunteers were recruited for test-retest WB-DW MRI (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01231282) to assess ADC measurement repeatability. Response assessment was based on ADC change after one treatment cycle at WB-DW MRI and Deauville criteria at (18)F-FDG PET/CT. To evaluate prognostic factors of disease-free survival (DFS), Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and univariable and multivariable Cox regression were performed; intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and mean difference with limits of agreement were calculated to determine inter- and intraobserver repeatability of ADC measurements. RESULTS: Forty-five patients (mean age, 58 years ± 17 [standard deviation]; 31 men) and nine volunteers (mean age, 22 years ± 3; seven men) were enrolled. Median DFS was 48 months (range, 2–48 months). Outcome prediction accuracy was 86.7% (39 of 45), 71.4% (30 of 42), and 73.8% (31 of 42) for WB-DW MRI and interim and end-of-treatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT, respectively. WB-DW MRI (hazard ratio [HR], 17.8; P < .001) and interim (HR, 5; P = .008) and end-of-treatment (HR, 4.3; P = .017) (18)F-FDG PET/CT were prognostic of DFS. After multivariable analysis, WB-DW MRI remained an independent predictor of outcome (HR, 26.8; P = .002). Intra- and interobserver agreement for ADC measurements were excellent (ICC = 0.85–0.99). CONCLUSION: Quantitative WB-DW MRI after only one cycle of immunochemotherapy predicts DFS in aggressive NHL and is noninferior to routinely performed interim and end-of-treatment (18)F-FDG PET/CT. Keywords: MR-Diffusion Weighted Imaging, Lymphoma, Oncology, Tumor Response, Whole-Body Imaging Supplemental material is available for this article. © RSNA, 2021

PURPOSE: To review the available literature on tumor size/volume measurements on magnetic resonance imaging for response assessment after chemoradiotherapy, and validate these cut-offs in an independent multicenter patient cohort. METHODS AND MATERIALS: The study included 2 parts. (1) REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE: articles were included that assessed the accuracy of tumor size/volume measurements on magnetic resonance imaging for tumor response assessment. Size/volume cut-offs were extracted; (2) Multicenter validation: extracted cut-offs from the literature were tested in a multicenter cohort (n=146). Accuracies were calculated and compared with reported results from the literature. RESULTS: The review included 14 articles, in which 3 different measurement methods were assessed: (1) tumor length; (2) 3-dimensonial tumor size; and (3) whole volume. Study outcomes consisted of (1) complete response (ypT0) versus residual tumor; (2) tumor regression grade 1 to 2 versus 3 to 5; and (3) T-downstaging (ypT

e23563 Background: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is commonly driven by activating mutations in KIT or PDGFRA. Advanced GIST is treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) but develops resistance over time. EORTC 1317 assessed the safety and activity of cabozantinib, a multi-TKI targeting KIT, MET, AXL and proangiogenic pathways, in GIST patients who had progressed on imatinib and sunitinib. The efficacy analysis of the trial, which met its primary endpoint, was based on local assessment of RECIST1.1 response. RECIST neglects myxoid degeneration, necrosis and vascular remodeling induced by TKIs without major volumetric changes. Density changes on CT scans can predict clinical benefit and can be assessed by Choi criteria. Methods: We describe results of a post hoc exploratory analysis of CT scans performed centrally using RECIST 1.1 and Choi criteria. Results: Week 12 scans were available and evaluable by central review in 43 pts, Choi in 42 cases. Comparisons between local and central RECIST1.1 outcome revealed discrepancies in 17/43 evaluable cases (39.5%). When comparing Choi with local and central RECIST1.1 at week 12, discrepancies were observed in 27/42 (64.3%) and 21/42 (50%) evaluable cases, respectively. In summary, 70% of evaluable patients were progression-free and alive at week 12 based on local assessment, 86% and 83% according to central RECIST1.1 and Choi criteria, respectively. The main difference was the rate of objective response with cabozantinib in week 12: 5 PR (12%) with local RECIST1.1, 3 PR (7%) with central assessment, and 21 PR (50%) with Choi criteria. Conclusions: RECIST1.1 remains an unsatisfactory tool for response assessment in GIST, illustrated by the high inter-rater variability of response outcome comparing local versus central analysis. RECIST1.1 clearly underestimates the anti-tumor activity of TKIs in GIST. Cabozantinib did not only meet the primary endpoint of this trial when applying RECIST1.1 per protocol, but achieved objective responses in 50% of evaluable patients in week 12 when using Choi criteria. [Table: see text]

BACKGROUND: Correct staging of patients with colorectal cancer is of utmost importance for the prediction of operability. Although computed tomography (CT) has a good overall performance, estimation of peritoneal cancer spread is a known weakness, a problem that cannot always be overcome by Fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG-PET/CT); especially in infiltrative and miliary disease spread. Due to its high spatial and contrast resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) might have a better performance. Our aim was to evaluate the added value of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI/MRI) to CT for prediction of peritoneal cancer spread and operability assessment in colorectal cancer patients with clinically suspected peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). METHODS: This institutional review board approved retrospective study included sixty colorectal cancer patients who underwent WB-DWI/MRI in addition to CT for clinically suspected peritoneal metastases. WB-DWI/MRI and CT were assessed for detecting PC following the peritoneal cancer index (PCI), determination of PCI-score categorized as PC 15, detection of nodal and distant metastases and estimation of overall operability. Histopathology after surgery and biopsy and/or 6 months follow-up were used as reference standard. RESULTS: For detection of PC, CT had 43.2% sensitivity, 95.6% specificity, 84.5% positive predictive value (PPV) and 75.2% negative predictive value (NPV). WB-DWI/MRI had 97.8% sensitivity, 93.2% specificity, 88.9% PPV and 98.7% NPV. WB-DWI/MRI enabled better detection of inoperable distant metastases (all 12 patients) than CT (2/12 patients) and significantly improved prediction of PCI category [WB-DWI/MRI PCI 15: 16/17 patients (94.1%) versus CT PCI 15: 2/17 patients (11.8%); p

To evaluate the feasibility of whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (WB-DWI/MRI) for detecting primary tumour, nodal and distant metastases in pregnant women with cancer. Twenty pregnant patients underwent WB-DWI/MRI in additional to conventional imaging. Reproducibility of WB-DWI/MRI between two readers was evaluated using Cohen’s κ statistics and accuracy was compared to conventional imaging for assessing primary tumour site, nodal and visceral metastases. Both WB-DWI/MRI readers showed good–very good agreement for lesion detection (primary lesions: κ=1; lymph nodes: κ=0.89; distant metastases: κ=0.61). Eight (40 %) patients were upstaged after WB-DWI/MRI. For nodal metastases, WB-DWI/MRI showed 100 % (95 % CI: 83.2–100) sensitivity for both readers with specificity of 99.4 % (96.9–100) and 100 % (80.5–100) for readers 1 and 2, respectively. For distant metastases, WB-DWI/MRI showed 66.7 % (9.4–99.2) and 100 % (29.2–100) sensitivity and specificity of 94.1 % (71.3–99.9) and 100 % (80.5–100) for readers 1 and 2, respectively. Conventional imaging showed sensitivity of 50 % (27.2-72.8) and 33.3 % (0.8–90.6); specificity of 100 % (98–100) and 100 % (80.5–100), for nodal and distant metastases respectively. WB-DWI/MRI is feasible for single-step non-invasive staging of cancer during pregnancy with additional value for conventional imaging procedures. • In our study, WB-DWI/MRI was more accurate than conventional imaging during pregnancy. • WB-DWI/MRI improves diagnostic assessment of patients with cancer during pregnancy. • Accurate imaging and oncologic staging improves treatment and outcome.

Correct staging and treatment initiation in malignant lymphoma depends on accurate lymph node characterization. However, nodal assessment based on conventional and diffusion-weighted (DWI) MRI remains challenging, particularly in smaller nodes.To evaluate first-order apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) texture parameters compared to mean ADC for lymph node characterization in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) using whole-body DWI (WB-DWI).Retrospective.Twenty-eight patients with NHL.3T whole-body DWI using two b-values (0-1000 s/mmRegions of interest were drawn on the three most hyperintense lymph nodes on b1000-images, irrespective of size, in all nodal body regions. Diagnostic performance of mean ADC (ADCBenign and malignant nodes were compared using Mann-Whitney U-tests with 18-Fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomography and bone marrow biopsy as reference standard. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed to determine cutoff values and calculate sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive value (PPV, NPV).ADCFirst-order ADC texture analysis with WB-DWI improved lymph node characterization compared to ADC3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2018;48:897-906.

Background Gastro-intestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are very rare tumors of the gastro-intestinal tract, originating from the interstitial cells of Cajal or a common cell precursor which both express type III tyrosine kinase receptors. Regorafenib is an oral multi-kinase inhibitor used to treat gastro-intestinal stromal tumors. To our knowledge this is the first case in literature to show the response of regorafenib on PET. Case presentation A 37-year-old male with lower abdominal pain and weight loss was referred to our hospital. Abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) showed diffuse peritoneal implants. Surgical specimen histology showed a GIST with c-KIT exon 11 deletion (c.1708_1728del) and treatment with imatinib 400 mg/day was initiated. Due to disease progression illustrated on baseline versus follow-up 18F–FDG-PET/CT scans therapy was switched to imatinib 800 mg/day and later to sunitinib 50 mg/day. Upon further disease progression 10 months later, third line treatment with regorafenib 160 mg/day was initiated. 18F–FDG-PET/CT showed the metabolic responses after 4 months regorafenib treatment ranging from complete response to the appearance of a new lesion in the liver. The new hypermetabolic lesion was only seen on the non-attenuation-corrected images because of breathing motion artifact. Conclusion This case illustrates that metabolic response can occur in GIST lesions without morphological response after third line regorafinib treatment. Furthermore this is the first case in literature to show regorafinib response on PET.

Summary Background Hodgkin's lymphoma is one of the most common lymphoid neoplasms in young adults, but the low abundance of neoplastic Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells in the tumour hampers the elucidation of its pathogenesis, biology, and diversity. After an incidental observation that genomic aberrations known to occur in Hodgkin's lymphoma were detectable in circulating cell-free DNA, this study was undertaken to investigate whether circulating cell-free DNA can be informative about genomic imbalances in Hodgkin's lymphoma. Methods We applied massive parallel sequencing to circulating cell-free DNA in a prospective study of patients with biopsy proven nodular sclerosis Hodgkin's lymphoma. Genomic imbalances in Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells were investigated by fluorescence in-situ hybridisation (FISH) on tumour specimens. Findings By non-invasive prenatal testing, we observed several genomic imbalances in circulating cell-free DNA of a pregnant woman, who was subsequently diagnosed with early-stage nodular sclerosis Hodgkin's lymphoma stage IIA during gestation. FISH on tumour tissue confirmed corresponding genomic imbalances in Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells. We prospectively studied circulating cell-free DNA of nine nodular sclerosis Hodgkin's lymphoma cases: eight at first diagnosis and one at first relapse. Seven patients had stage IIA disease and two had stage IVB disease. In eight, genomic imbalances were detected, including, among others, gain of chromosomes 2p and 9p, known to occur in Hodgkin's lymphoma. These gains and losses in circulating cell-free DNA were extensively validated by FISH on Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells in biopsy samples. Initiation of chemotherapy induced normalisation of circulating cell-free DNA profiles within 2–6 weeks. The cell cycle indicator Ki67 and cleaved caspase-3 were detected in Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells by immunohistochemistry, suggesting high turnover of Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells. Interpretation In early and advanced stage nodular sclerosis Hodgkin's lymphoma, genomic imbalances in Hodgkin/Reed-Sternberg cells can be identified by massive parallel sequencing of circulating cell-free DNA at diagnosis. The rapid normalisation of circulating cell-free DNA profiles on therapy initiation suggests a potential role for circulating cell-free DNA profiling in early response monitoring. This finding creates several new possibilities for exploring the diversity of Hodgkin's lymphoma, and has potential implications for the future clinical development of biomarkers and precision therapy for this malignancy. Funding KU Leuven-University of Leuven and University Hospitals Leuven.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: DWI is typically performed with EPI sequences in single-center studies. The purpose of this study was to determine the reproducibility of ADC values in the head and neck region in healthy subjects. In addition, the reproducibility of ADC values in different tissues was assessed to identify the most suitable reference tissue. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prospectively studied 7 healthy subjects, with EPI and TSE sequences, on 5 MR imaging systems at 3 time points in 2 institutions. ADC maps of EPI (with 2 b-values and 6 b-values) and TSE sequences were compared. Mean ADC values for different tissues (submandibular gland, sternocleidomastoid muscle, spinal cord, subdigastric lymph node, and tonsil) were used to evaluate intra- and intersubject, intersystem, and intersequence variability by using a linear mixed model. RESULTS: On 97% of images, a region of interest could be placed on the spinal cord, compared with 87% in the tonsil. ADC values derived from EPI-DWI with 2 b-values and calculated EPI-DWI with 2 b-values extracted from EPI-DWI with 6 b-values did not differ significantly. The standard error of ADC measurement was the smallest for the tonsil and spinal cord (standard error of measurement = 151.2 × 10(−6) mm/s(2) and 190.1 × 10(−6) mm/s(2), respectively). The intersystem difference for mean ADC values and the influence of the MR imaging system on ADC values among the subjects were statistically significant (P < .001). The mean difference among examinations was negligible (ie

Background The aim of the study was to retrospectively evaluate the symptom control, tumour response, and complication rate in patients with liver-predominant metastatic neuroendocrine tumours treated with transarterial chemoembolization using doxorubicin-eluting superabsorbent polymer (SAP) microspheres. Patients and methods Patients with neuroendocrine liver metastases who underwent hepatic transarterial chemoembolization using doxorubicin-eluting SAP-microspheres (50–100 μm Hepasphere/Quadrasphere Microsphere® particles, Merit Medical, South Jordan, Utah, USA) were included in this study. Pre-and post-procedure imaging studies were evaluated to assess short and intermediate-term tumour response using modified RECIST criteria. Symptom relief and procedure-related complications were evaluated. Results A total of 27 embolization procedures were performed on 17 patients. Twelve of 17 patients (70%) were symptomatic, including carcinoid syndrome (n = 8) and severe, uncontrollable hypoglycemia (n = 4). Eight of 12 patients (67%) had complete symptom relief, and the remaining 4 (33%) had partial relief. One patient developed ischemic cholecystitis (6%). No other hepatobiliary complications occurred. Short-term and intermediate-term imaging follow-up was available for 15/17 patients (88%) and 12/14 patients (86%) respectively. At short-term follow-up (< 3 months), 14 patients (93%) showed partial response and the remaining patient had progressive disease (7%). At intermediate-term imaging follow-up (> 3 months), partial response, stable disease and progressive disease were found respectively in 7 (58%), 3 (25%) and 2 (17%) patients. Conclusions Chemoembolization with doxorubicin-eluting SAP-microspheres is a safe and effective treatment option for neuroendocrine liver metastases and is associated with a low complication rate. In particular, no clinically evident liver necrosis or bile duct complications were encountered.

Introduction In head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) the ability to anticipate an individual patient's outcome is very valuable. With this study we wanted to assess the prognostic value of pretreatment apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in a large patient population and integrate it into a multivariable prognostic model. Methods From 2004 to 2010 175 patients with pathology proven HNSCC were included in this study. All patients underwent a pretreatment MRI with diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) using six b -values. For each tumor, three ADC values were calculated using different b -value combinations: ADC low ( b 0–50–100s/mm 2 ), ADC high ( b 500–750–1000s/mm 2 ) and ADC avg (all b -values). The clinical and radiological variables included: tumor and nodal volume, tumor location and age. Disease recurrence was analyzed using competing risk regression. A prognostic model for disease recurrence was developed, and internal validation was performed using bootstrapping and by dividing patients in three equal sized groups based on prognosis. Results One hundred and sixty-one patients were eligible for analysis. Median follow-up was 50months (range 4–86). A total of 67 patients experienced disease recurrence during follow-up (42%). ADC high was a prognostic factor for disease recurrence (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.14 per 10 –4 mm 2 /s, 95% CI 1.04–1.25). Harrell's c-index of the multivariable prognostic model was 0.62 (95% CI 0.56–0.70) after internal validation. The validated 3-year disease recurrence rates for the groups with worst, intermediate, and best prognosis were 56%, 33% and 31% respectively. Conclusion Pretreatment ADC value derived from high b -values is an independent prognostic factor in HNSCC and increases the performance of a multivariable prognostic model in addition to known clinical and radiological variables. Integration of other biomarkers and external validation is necessary to ensure its clinical applicability.

The 1-month apparent diffusion coefficient ratio after initial transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) was an independent predictor of progression-free survival; the stronger association between response at 1-month diffusion-weighted (DW) imaging and PFS compared with Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST), European Association for the Study of the Liver criteria, and modified RECIST suggests that DW imaging may be a more reliable response marker after a single TACE procedure.

In head and neck cancer, diffusion weighted MRI (DWI) can predict response early during treatment. Treatment-induced changes and DWI-specific artifacts hinder an accurate registration between apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps. The aim of the study was to develop a registration tool which calculates and visualizes regional changes in ADC.Twenty patients with stage IV HNC treated with primary radiotherapy received an MRI including DWI before and early during treatment. Markers were manually placed at anatomical landmarks on the different modalities at both time points. A registration method, consisting of a fully automatic rigid and nonrigid registration and two semi-automatic thin-plate spline (TPS) warps was developed and applied to the image sets. After each registration step the mean registration errors were calculated and ΔADC was compared between good and poor responders.Adding the TPS warps significantly reduced the registration error (in mm, 6.3 ± 6.2 vs 3.2 ± 3.3 mm, p0.001). After the marker based registration the median ΔADC in poor responders was significantly lower than in good responders (7% vs. 21%; p0.001).This registration method allowed for a significant reduction of the mean registration error. Furthermore the voxel-wise calculation of the ΔADC early during radiotherapy allowed for a visualization of the regional differences of ΔADC within the tumor.

A new hypermetabolic lesion onWe present a case of acute and nodular radiation-induced injury of the left liver after neo-adjuvant chemoradiotherapy for distal esophageal cancer, which resembles a hepatic metastasis on

ispartof: ENDOSCOPY vol:50 issue:7 pages:E184-E185 ispartof: location:Germany status: published

To evaluate whole-body MRI with diffusion-weighted sequence (WB-DWI/MRI) for staging and assessing operability compared with CT and FDG-PET/CT in patients with suspected ovarian cancer. Thirty-two patients underwent 3-T WB-DWI/MRI, (18) F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/computed tomography (FDG-PET/CT) and CT before diagnostic open laparoscopy (DOL). Imaging findings for tumour characterisation, peritoneal and retroperitoneal staging were correlated with histopathology after DOL and/or open surgery. For distant metastases, FDG-PET/CT or image-guided biopsies were the reference standards. For tumour characterisation and peritoneal staging, WB-DWI/MRI was compared with CT and FDG-PET/CT. Interobserver agreement for WB-DWI/MRI was determined. WB-DWI/MRI showed 94 % accuracy for primary tumour characterisation compared with 88 % for CT and 94 % for FDG-PET/CT. WB-DWI/MRI showed higher accuracy of 91 % for peritoneal staging compared with CT (75 %) and FDG-PET/CT (71 %). WB-DWI/MRI and FDG-PET/CT showed higher accuracy of 87 % for detecting retroperitoneal lymphadenopathies compared with CT (71 %). WB-DWI/MRI showed excellent correlation with FDG-PET/CT (kappa = 1.00) for detecting distant metastases compared with CT (kappa = 0.34). Interobserver agreement was moderate to almost perfect (kappa = 0.58-0.91). WB-DWI/MRI shows high accuracy for characterising primary tumours, peritoneal and distant staging compared with CT and FDG-PET/CT and may be valuable for assessing operability in ovarian cancer patients. aEuro cent Whole-body MRI with diffusion weighting (WB-DWI/MRI) helps to assess the operability of suspected ovarian cancer. aEuro cent Interobserver agreement is good for primary tumour characterisation, peritoneal and distant staging. aEuro cent WB-DWI/MRI improves mesenteric/serosal metastatic spread assessment compared with CT and FDG-PET/CT. aEuro cent Retroperitoneal/cervical-thoracic nodal staging using qualitative DWI criteria was reasonably accurate. aEuro cent WB-DWI/MRI and FDG-PET/CT showed the highest diagnostic impact for detecting thoracic metastases

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance (MR) and diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequences for defining benignity or malignancy of solitary pulmonary lesions (SPL).First, 54 consecutive patients with SPL, clinically staged (CT and PET or integrated PET-CT) as N0M0, were included in this prospective study. An additional 3-Tesla MR examination including DCE and DWI was performed 1 day before the surgical procedure. Histopathology of the surgical specimen served as the standard of reference. Subsequently, this functional method of SPL characterisation was validated with a second cohort of 54 patients.In the feasibility group, 11 benign and 43 malignant SPL were included. Using the combination of conventional MR sequences with visual interpretation of DCE-MR curves resulted in a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 100%, 55% and 91%, respectively. These results can be improved by DWI (with a cut-off value of 1.52 × 10(-3) mm(2)/s for ADChigh) leading to a sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of 98%, 82% and 94%, respectively. In the validation group these results were confirmed.Visual DCE-MR-based curve interpretation can be used for initial differentiation of benign from malignant SPL, while additional quantitative DWI-based interpretation can further improve the specificity.• Magnetic resonance imaging is increasingly being used to help differentiate lung lesions. • Solitary pulmonary lesions (SPL) are accurately characterised by combining DCE-MRI and DWI. • Visual DCE-MRI assessment facilitates the diagnostic throughput in patients with SPL. • DWI provides additional information in inconclusive DCE-MRI (type B pattern).

BACKGROUND Correct staging and treatment initiation in malignant lymphoma depends on accurate lymph node characterization. However, nodal assessment based on conventional and diffusion-weighted (DWI) MRI remains challenging, particularly in smaller nodes. PURPOSE To evaluate first-order apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) texture parameters compared to mean ADC for lymph node characterization in non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) using whole-body DWI (WB-DWI). STUDY TYPE Retrospective. POPULATION Twenty-eight patients with NHL. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE 3T whole-body DWI using two b-values (0-1000 s/mm2 ). ASSESSMENT Regions of interest were drawn on the three most hyperintense lymph nodes on b1000-images, irrespective of size, in all nodal body regions. Diagnostic performance of mean ADC (ADCmean ) was compared with first-order ADC texture parameters: standard deviation (ADCstdev ), kurtosis (ADCkurt ), and skewness (ADCskew ). Additional subanalyses focused on the accuracy of ADCmean and ADC texture parameters in different lymph node volumes and nodal regions. STATISTICAL TESTS Benign and malignant nodes were compared using Mann-Whitney U-tests with 18-Fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography computed tomography and bone marrow biopsy as reference standard. Receiver operating characteristic analyses were performed to determine cutoff values and calculate sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and positive and negative predictive value (PPV, NPV). RESULTS ADCmean (P = 0.008), ADCskew and ADCkurt differed significantly between benign and malignant nodes (P

A rare case of hepatocellular tumor extension in the right heart was reported. The patient presented with clinical signs of a vena cava superior syndrome. Computed tomography and transthoracic echocardiography demonstrated a large tumoral mass lesion extending from the left liver lobe into the inferior vena cava right atrium and right ventricle. The patient was treated with best supportive care. ispartof: CANADIAN JOURNAL OF GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY vol:2016 ispartof: location:Egypt status: published

This chapter discusses head and neck cancers, and covers the epidemiology and molecular biology of head and neck cancer. Head and neck cancer is a heterogeneous disease and most commonly caused by tobacco and alcohol use, as well as high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. HPV-negative and -positive HNSCC are demographically, biologically and clinically distinct entities with more favourable outcomes associated with HPV-positive tumours of the oropharynx. Comprehensive genomic analyses show that more functional loss of tumour suppressors are present in HPV-negative tumours compared to HPV-positive tumours. Furthermore, HNSCC can be molecularly characterized into five subtypes. The challenges facing future investigations are efficient translation of these biological findings into clinically meaningful advancements in patient treatment.