Publications by authors named "Fiona M Fennessy"

Prostate MRI has traditionally relied on qualitative interpretation. However, quantitative components hold the potential to markedly improve performance. The ADC from DWI is probably the most widely recognized quantitative MRI biomarker and has shown strong discriminatory value for clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) as well as for recurrent cancer after treatment.

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Multiparametric MRI (mpMRI), interpreted using PI-RADS, improves the initial detection of clinically significant prostate cancer (PCa). Prostate MR image quality has increasingly recognized relevance to the use of mpMRI for PCa diagnosis. Additionally, mpMRI is increasingly used in scenarios beyond initial detection, including active surveillance and assessment for local recurrence after prostatectomy, radiation therapy, or focal therapy.

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Accurate determination of the local stage of prostate cancer is crucial for treatment planning and prognosis. The primary objective of local staging is to distinguish between organ-confined and locally advanced disease, with the latter carrying a worse clinical prognosis. The presence of locally advanced disease features of prostate cancer, such as extra-prostatic extension, seminal vesicle invasion, and positive surgical margin, can impact the choice of treatment.

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Diffusion-weighted imaging is a dependable method for detection of clinically significant prostate cancer. In prostate tissue, there are several compartments that can be distinguished from each other, based on different water diffusion decay signals observed. Alterations in cell architecture, such as a relative increase in tumor infiltration and decrease in stroma, will influence the observed diffusion signal in a voxel due to impeded random motion of water molecules.

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This slide presentation provides an overview of prostate cancer risk stratification and management, reviews key anatomic and imaging principles pertaining to local staging of prostate cancer, and highlights inflection points where MRI findings regarding local staging may modify clinical management.

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Rationale And Objectives: The study aims to propose an optimal workflow in patients with a PI-RADS 3 (PR-3) assessment category (AC) through determining the timing and type of pathology interrogation used for the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) in these men based upon a 5-year retrospective review in a large academic medical center.

Materials And Methods: This United States Health Insurance Probability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant, institutional review board-approved retrospective study included men without prior csPCa diagnosis who received PR-3 AC on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MRI). Subsequent incidence and time to csPCa diagnosis and number/type of prostate interventions was recorded.

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The Alliance of Leaders in Academic Affairs in Radiology (ALAAR) advocates for a Universal Curriculum Vitae for all medical institutions and to that end, we have developed a template that can be downloaded on the AUR website (ALAAR CV template) that includes all of the elements required by many academic institutions. Members of ALAAR represent multiple academic institutions and have spent many hours reviewing and providing input on radiologists' curricula vitae. The purpose of this review is to help academic radiologists accurately maintain and optimize their CVs with minimal effort and to clarify common questions that arise at many different institutions in the process of constructing a CV.

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Objective: Assess radiologists' contribution to variation in clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa) detection in patients with elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and multiparametric MRI (mpMRI).

Methods: This institutional review board-approved, retrospective cohort study was performed at a tertiary, academic, National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center with a multidisciplinary prostate cancer program. Men undergoing mpMRI examinations from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2019, with elevated PSA (≥4 ng/mL) and biopsy within 6 months pre- or post-MRI or prostatectomy within 6 months post-mpMRI were included.

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Objectives: The Prostate Imaging Quality (PI-QUAL) score is a new metric to evaluate the diagnostic quality of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the prostate. This study assesses the impact of an intervention, namely a prostate MRI quality training lecture, on the participant's ability to apply PI-QUAL.

Methods: Sixteen participants (radiologists, urologists, physicists, and computer scientists) of varying experience in reviewing diagnostic prostate MRI all assessed the image quality of ten examinations from different vendors and machines.

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Rationale And Objectives: Residency training often overlaps with prime childbearing years, yet variability in availability and duration of parental leave in residency can complicate the decision to become parents. Gender disparities in attitudes towards parenthood in residency is well recognized, with females generally reporting more concerns surrounding prolonged training, hindrance of future career plans, and negative perception from peers. However, gender of the department chair has not yet been examined as a factor influencing parental leave policies for residents in Radiology.

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The role of multiparametric MRI in diagnosis, staging and treatment planning for prostate cancer is well established. However, there remain several challenges to widespread adoption. One such challenge is the duration and cost of the examination.

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Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging features that best differentiate leiomyosarcoma (LMS) from leiomyoma, and to explore a scoring system to preoperatively identify those at highest risk of having LMS.

Methods: Our Institutional Review Board approved this retrospective HIPAA-compliant study with a waiver for written informed consent. Institutional Research Patient Data Registry identified patients with histopathologically-proven LMS (n = 19) or leiomyoma (n = 25) and a pelvic MRI within six months prior to surgery.

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Background: To develop an international, multi-site nomogram for side-specific prediction of extraprostatic extension (EPE) of prostate cancer based on clinical, biopsy, and magnetic resonance imaging- (MRI) derived data.

Methods: Ten institutions from the USA and Europe contributed clinical and side-specific biopsy and MRI variables of consecutive patients who underwent prostatectomy. A logistic regression model was used to develop a nomogram for predicting side-specific EPE on prostatectomy specimens.

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Objectives: The objectives of this exploratory study were to investigate the feasibility of multidimensional diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MddMRI) in assessing diffusion heterogeneity at both a macroscopic and microscopic level in prostate cancer (PCa).

Materials And Methods: Informed consent was obtained from 46 subjects who underwent 3.0-T prostate multiparametric MRI, complemented with a prototype spin echo-based MddMRI sequence in this institutional review board-approved study.

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Purpose: This multicenter randomized phase 2 trial investigates the impact of intense androgen deprivation on radical prostatectomy pathologic response and radiographic and tissue biomarkers in localized prostate cancer (NCT02903368).

Materials And Methods: Eligible patients had a Gleason score ≥4+3=7, prostate specific antigen >20 ng/mL or T3 disease and lymph nodes <20 mm. In Part 1, patients were randomized 1:1 to apalutamide, abiraterone acetate, prednisone and leuprolide (AAPL) or abiraterone, prednisone, leuprolide (APL) for 6 cycles (1 cycle=28 days) followed by radical prostatectomy.

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Currently there is a lot of interest in the use of a "biparametric" or "abbreviated" prostate MR protocol, which usually refers to removal of the dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI, in the detection of clinically significant prostate cancer. In this article we describe the benefits of DCE as part of the PI-RADS lexicon, with particular reference to its role in PI-RADS V2 category 3 peripheral zone lesions. We also discuss the benefits of triplanar T2-weighted images, and finally discuss how a mpMRI protocol is of benefit in prostate cancer staging, in evaluating for local disease recurrence, and as a biomarker for neoadjuvant therapy response.

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Rationale And Objectives: To explore a role for multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) as a biomarker of response to neoadjuvant androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) for prostate cancer (PCa).

Materials And Methods: This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board and was HIPAA compliant. Eight patients with localized PCa had a baseline mpMRI, repeated after 6-months of ADT, followed by prostatectomy.

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In this study we assessed the repeatability of radiomics features on small prostate tumors using test-retest Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging (mpMRI). The premise of radiomics is that quantitative image-based features can serve as biomarkers for detecting and characterizing disease. For such biomarkers to be useful, repeatability is a basic requirement, meaning its value must remain stable between two scans, if the conditions remain stable.

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Objective: Accurate biopsy sampling of the suspected lesions is critical for the diagnosis and clinical management of prostate cancer. Transperineal in-bore MRI-guided prostate biopsy (tpMRgBx) is a targeted biopsy technique that was shown to be safe, efficient, and accurate. Our goal was to develop an open source software platform to support evaluation, refinement, and translation of this biopsy approach.

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Diagnosis of prostate cancer is based on histologic evaluation of tumor architecture using a system known as the "Gleason score." This diagnostic paradigm, while the standard of care, is time-consuming, shows intraobserver variability, and provides no information about the altered metabolic pathways, which result in altered tissue architecture. Characterization of the molecular composition of prostate cancer and how it changes with respect to the Gleason score (GS) could enable a more objective and faster diagnosis.

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Rationale And Objectives: Analysis of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging is notable for the variability of calculated parameters. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of measurement variability and error/variability due to modeling in DCE magnetic resonance imaging parameters.

Materials And Methods: Two prostate DCE scans were performed on 11 treatment-naïve patients with suspected or confirmed prostate peripheral zone cancer within an interval of less than two weeks.

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