Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Gastrointestinal tract, Oncology, Pelvis, MR, Diagnostic procedure, Education and training
Authors:
L. I. R. Agostinho1, A. Matos2, A. GONÇALVES2, L. Gargaté3; 1Lisbon/PT, 2Lisboa/PT, 3Loures/PT
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2018/C-2109
Background
Rectal cancer is one of the major causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide.
Imaging plays a central role in the pre-treatment evaluation of pathology-proven tumors,
providing loco-regional (MRI) and distant staging (CT).
MRI has established itself as the primary and decisive non-invasive method for loco-regional staging in patients with rectal cancer,
mainly due to its sharp contrast and high soft tissue resolution on T2-weighted imaging [1-4].
MRI can depict very precisely the interface between the rectal muscularis propria and the mesorectal fat,
very important for local staging Fig. 1.
The findings on MRI are crucial for decision making,
for example if a patient is candidate for direct total mesorectal excision (TME) only or chemoradiation neoadjuvant therapy.