Soft-tissue sarcomas: MR imaging and MR spectroscopy for prognosis and therapy monitoring

Article Abstract:

A combination of hyperthermia therapy (HT; utilizing excessive heat) and radiation therapy (RT) is often used to treat certain cancerous tumors. Diagnostic imaging could enhance such therapy if it could adequately evaluate the tumor both prior to and during therapy. Such imaging would be useful in deciding if the patient was appropriate for this type of therapy and in monitoring the success of the therapy. This study examined using magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, a diagnostic imaging technique that uses magnetic properties of tissues to produce anatomic images, and MR spectroscopy, which analyzes biochemical data in tissues, to evaluate and monitor cancerous tumors treated with HT and RT therapy. Eight patient with soft-tissue sarcomas, cancerous tumors of connective tissue, underwent MR evaluation prior to and during HT and RT therapy. All patients underwent surgical removal of the tumors following therapy. Results showed that variations in MR signals from the tumors correlated with the stage of the tumor and the degree to which it was heated during HT therapy. Decreased pH (increased acidity) of the tumor as measured by MR during the course of treatment correlated with increased tumor necrosis (tissue death) as revealed when the tumors were surgically removed. These results indicate that MR evaluation prior to and during combined HT and RT therapy can be useful. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Care and treatment, Radiotherapy, Tumors, Sarcoma, Thermotherapy

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Differentiation of hepatic lesions with MR imaging: the last word?

Article Abstract:

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a noninvasive diagnostic technique in which images of internal body structures are produced based on the magnetic properties that vary for each element. It was hoped when MR was first introduced that it could provide an easy way to distinguish malignant (cancerous) lesions of the liver from nonmalignant ones. Invasive and painful biopsies would thus be avoided. Initial efforts to use MR to characterize liver lesions were not very successful. The earlier studies attempted to use MR signal intensities from the lesions to differentiate malignant from nonmalignant types. Measurements tended to be inaccurate, and values for the two types tended to overlap. Later studies have tried differentiating on the basis of morphological (physical) characteristics. These studies also led to mixed and conflicting results. An article by Brown and colleagues, "Focal Hepatic Lesions: Differentiation with MR imaging at 0.5 T", examined differentiating lesions by visual analysis of MR images and comparing them with images from normal liver tissue, spleen tissue, and skeletal muscle tissue. Their approach is both more accurate and easier to use than others suggested so far. While this approach is far from perfect, with many types of lesions left out, it is a major advance in the use of MR imaging to differentiate liver lesions. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Diagnosis, Liver, Liver cancer, editorial

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