MRI in the assessment of tumor response to chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer
Objective: to evaluate the ability of high-field MRI to assess tumor response to chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer. Material and methods. The study involved 43 patients. MRI was performed using a 1.5 Tesla MAGNETOM ESSENZA scanner (SIEMENS, Germany) with a magnetic field strength of 1.5 T. Intravenous bolus injection of paramagnetic contrast agent was used to assess the tumor spread and determine the tumor boundaries and its structure. Dynamic series of sections and delayed scans in standard T1-weighted sequence were obtained. Results. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI was shown to be a highly informative method that can be used to monitor the process of combined chemotherapy and radiation therapy in the treatment of patients with cervical cancer. It permits the objective assessment of the dynamics of tumor regression, changes in tumor vascularity and regional lymph node status