[Carcinoma of the uterine cervical canal. Staging and biometric assessment with magnetic resonance]

In uterine cervical canal carcinoma, the current clinical FIGO criteria often fail not only to differentiate stage IA2 from stage IB but also to demonstrate possible parametrial involvement. Moreover, the analysis of tumor volume and of the depth of neoplastic stromal invasion is not very reliable. The authors investigated MR accuracy in the definition of such variables: to this purpose, 24 patients with histologically confirmed endocervical adenocarcinoma were submitted to MRI, which was performed with an 0.5-T superconductive magnet. Sagittal and oblique transverse or sometimes coronal SE images, oriented so as to be perpendicular to longitudinal cervical major axis were obtained with T2 weighting (TR 1800 ms, TE 25-90 ms). MR data were correlated with pathologic findings. MR accuracy in demonstrating parametrial involvement was 92%, its sensitivity was 86% and specificity 97%. Volumetric MR data showed a high correlation (r = 0.970) with those derived from pathologic findings. In 92% of cases stromal invasion exceeded 5 mm. MRI, thanks to its high accuracy, should be included in diagnostic pretreatment protocols, even though FIGO criteria do not require it yet, especially in the presence of an endocervical adenocarcinoma. Moreover, the accurate definition of tumor volume can allow less extensive surgery with the same survival rates and fewer complications, which are frequently observed after radical hysterectomy.