Molecular Imaging 2017

Limitations of MRI for Staging

Nodal staging:  Tumour may be present in normal sized nodes  High incidence of enlarged reactive pelvic nodes  High incidence of

Tumour staging:  Varying ability to distinguish T2 (localised) from T3 (extracapsular) disease  Sensitivity of T2-weighted MRI : 37-96% *  DCE-MRI may improve tumour staging: Increased specificity for extracapsular extension +

microscopic nodal spread to surgically non-sampled sites

*Kirkham A et al. Eur Urol 2006; 50 (6): 1163-74 + Bloch B et al. Eur Radiol 2012; 22(10):2201-10