Local staging of sigmoid colon cancer using MRI

BackgroundAn accurate radiological staging of colon cancer is crucial to select patients who may benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy.PurposeTo evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in identifying locally advanced sigmoid colon cancer, poor prognostic factors, and the inter-observer variation of the tumor apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI).Material and MethodsUsing 1.5 T MRI with high resolution T2-weighted (T2W) imaging, DWI, and no contrast enhancement, 35 patients with sigmoid colon cancer were assessed. T-stage, N-stage, extramural vascular invasion (EMVI), and ADC values of the tumors were assessed and blindly compared by two observers using postoperative histopathological examination as the gold standard. Early tumors were defined as T1 to T3ab, and advanced tumors as T3cd or T4.ResultsThe accuracy of the two radiologists in staging early versus advanced tumors, N-stage, and identification of EMVI was 94%/89%, ...