Diagnosis of colorectal cancer

06/2019

MUDr. Miriama Šmajerová; MUDr. Jakub Foukal, Ph.D.; prof. MUDr. Vlastimil Válek, CSc., MBA

Klinika radiologie a nukleární medicíny LF MU a FN Brno

SUMMARY

Imaging methods are an important part of the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with colorectal cancer. In addition to the still used ultrasonography and simple chest X-ray, magnetic resonance (MR) of the pelvis is one of the basic methods of staging today. In cases where the finding is unclear or borderline, we use computed tomography (CT) of the chest, abdomen and pelvis or a method combining positron emission tomography (PET) with CT (PET/CT) or PET/MR. Especially in preoperative rectal tumor staging, PET/MR has great potential as a first choice method. In patients with disseminated disease, CT is the standard method for monitoring. In some cases, however, we can take advantage of PET examination.

Key words

CT, MR, PET/CT, PET/MR, chest X-ray, ultrasonography, staging, colorectal cancer, rectal cancer, RECIST