Locoregional staging using magnetic resonance imaging in rectal cancer: influence of diffusion-weighted imaging in the diagnostic accuracy.

Objective: To assess whether the accuracy in locoregional staging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in rectal cancer (primary or post-chemoradiotherapy) improves by adding diffusion-weighted imaging, according to the radiologist's degree of experience.

Method: Retrospective study on 100 MRI records (1.5 T, 2011-2016) from patients with rectal cancer (reference standard: histology of surgical specimens).

Primary and post-chemoradiotherapy staging using MRI in rectal cancer: the role of diffusion imaging in the assessment of perirectal infiltration.

Purpose: To analyze changes in MRI diagnostic accuracy in main rectal tumor (T) evaluation resulting from the use of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), according to the degree of experience of the radiologist.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of a database including one hundred 1.5 T MRI records (2011-2016) from patients with biopsy-proven rectal cancer, including primary staging and post-chemoradiotherapy follow-up.