American Journal of Roentgenology, Vol 171, 1335-1339, Copyright © 1998 by American Roentgen Ray Society
Using MR imaging to predict and evaluate the response of invasive cervical carcinoma to systemic chemotherapy
M Amano, T Kato, Y Amano and T Kumazaki
Department of Radiology, Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, Japan.
OBJECTIVE: The goal of our study was to evaluate the accuracy of MR imaging
in predicting the response of invasive cervical carcinoma to systemic
neoadjuvant chemotherapy, to observe with MR imaging the difference in
tumor response to chemotherapy between treatment cycles, and to correlate
tumor size between MR imaging after chemotherapy and surgical specimen.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Pelvic MR imaging was performed before and after
chemotherapy in 41 patients with invasive cervical carcinoma. The
difference in tumor reduction between the second course and the third or
fourth course of treatment was statistically evaluated in 12 patients. MR
images obtained after chemotherapy were compared with surgical specimens to
determine residual tumor size in 10 patients. RESULTS: Tumor volume,
complete replacement of cervical stroma with carcinoma, and uterine body
involvement by tumor observed in the MR images before treatment were found
to be significant factors in predicting tumor response. No difference in
tumor reduction was found between the second course and the third or fourth
course of chemotherapy. Estimates made on MR imaging of tumor size after
chemotherapy were within 5 mm of the resected samples. CONCLUSION: Pelvic
MR imaging proved useful in predicting and assessing the response of
invasive cervical carcinoma to chemotherapy.