摘要
High-resolution pelvic magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) is the primary method for staging rectal cancer.MRI is highly accurate in the primary staging of rectal cancer;however,it has not proven to be effective in restaging,especially in complete response evaluation after neoadjuvant therapy.Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy produces many changes in rectal tumors and on adjacent area,as a result,local tumor extent may not be accurately determined.However,adding diffusion-weighted sequences to the standard approach can improve diagnostic accuracy.In this pictorial review,an overview of the situation of MRI in the staging and re-staging of rectal cancer is exhibited as a pictorial assay.An experience-and literature-based discussion of limitations and difficulties in interpretation are also presented.
High-resolution pelvic magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) is the primary method for staging rectal cancer.MRI is highly accurate in the primary staging of rectal cancer;however,it has not proven to be effective in restaging,especially in complete response evaluation after neoadjuvant therapy.Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy produces many changes in rectal tumors and on adjacent area,as a result,local tumor extent may not be accurately determined.However,adding diffusion-weighted sequences to the standard approach can improve diagnostic accuracy.In this pictorial review,an overview of the situation of MRI in the staging and re-staging of rectal cancer is exhibited as a pictorial assay.An experience-and literature-based discussion of limitations and difficulties in interpretation are also presented.