Endoscopy and MRI for restaging early rectal cancer after neoadjuvant treatment.

Aim: Chemoradiotherapy (CRT) has great potential to downstage rectal cancer. Response assessment has been investigated in locally advanced rectal cancer but not in early stage rectal cancer. The aim is to characterize the diagnostic accuracy of endoscopy performed by surgical endoscopists compared to (diffusion-weighted, DWI) MRI only and a multimodal approach combining (DWI-)MRI and endoscopic information both analysed by an abdominal radiologist for response assessment in early rectal cancer after neoadjuvant CRT.

Validation of In Vivo Nodal Assessment of Solid Malignancies with USPIO-Enhanced MRI: A Workflow Protocol.

Background: In various cancer types, the first step towards extended metastatic disease is the presence of lymph node metastases. Imaging methods with sufficient diagnostic accuracy are required to personalize treatment. Lymph node metastases can be detected with ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but this method needs validation.

Poor response at restaging MRI and high incomplete resection rates of locally advanced mucinous rectal cancer after chemoradiation therapy.

Aim: Mucinous carcinoma is a histological subtype of rectal cancer and has been associated with a poor response to neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT). The primary aim of this study was to analyse the response on MRI of mucinous locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC) after CRT compared to regular adenocarcinoma.

Method: Patients with LARC (defined as cT4 and/or cN2), who underwent CRT followed by restaging MRI and surgery in two tertiary referral hospitals were retrospectively included in the study.

USPIO-enhanced MRI of lymph nodes in rectal cancer: A node-to-node comparison with histopathology.

Purpose: To evaluate the initial results of predicting lymph node metastasis in rectal cancer patients detected in-vivo with USPIO-enhanced MRI at 3 T compared on a node-to-node basis with histopathology.

Methods: Ten rectal cancer patients of all clinical stages were prospectively included for an in-vivo 0.85 mm isotropic 3D MRI after infusion of Ferumoxtran-10.

USPIO-enhanced MRI of pelvic lymph nodes at 7-T: preliminary experience.

Purpose: To evaluate the technical feasibility of high-resolution USPIO-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of pelvic lymph nodes (LNs) at ultrahigh magnetic field strength.

Materials And Methods: The ethics review board approved this study and written informed consent was obtained from all patients. Three patients with rectal cancer and three selected patients with (recurrent) prostate cancer were examined at 7-T 24-36 h after intravenous ferumoxtran-10 administration; rectal cancer patients also received a 3-T MRI.

Long-term Oncological and Functional Outcomes of Chemoradiotherapy Followed by Organ-Sparing Transanal Endoscopic Microsurgery for Distal Rectal Cancer: The CARTS Study.

Importance: Treatment of rectal cancer is shifting toward organ preservation aiming to reduce surgery-related morbidity. Short-term outcomes of organ-preserving strategies are promising, but long-term outcomes are scarce in the literature.

Objective: To explore long-term oncological outcomes and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in patients with cT1-3N0M0 rectal cancer who underwent neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) followed by transanal endoscopic microsurgery (TEM).

Clinical lymph node staging in colorectal cancer; a flip of the coin?

Background: This study aims to provide insight in the quality of current daily practice in clinical lymph node staging in colorectal cancer (CRC) in the Netherlands.

Methods: Data of the nationwide population-based Netherlands Cancer Registry between 2003 and 2014 were used to analyze lymph node staging for cM0 CRC patients. Accuracy of clinical lymph node staging was calculated for the period 2011-2014.

Advances in organ preserving strategies in rectal cancer patients.

Treatment of rectal cancer patients has been subjected to change over the past thirty years. Total mesorectal excision is considered the cornerstone of rectal cancer treatment, but is also associated with significant morbidity resulting in an impaired quality of life. The addition of neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy to surgery has shown to improve survival and local control and may lead to a partial or even complete response (CR).