Imaging of female pelvic malignancies regarding MRI, CT, and PET/CT: Part 2

• Published in: Strahlentherapie und Onkologie 2011-11, Vol.187 (11), p.705-714
• Main Authors: Alt, Celine D., Brocker, Kerstin A., Eichbaum, Michael, Sohn, Christof, Arnegger, Florian U., Kauczor, Hans-Ulrich, Hallscheidt, Peter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Female; Genital Neoplasms, Female - diagnosis; Genital Neoplasms, Female - pathology; Genital Neoplasms, Female - radiotherapy; Guideline Adherence; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted - standards; Imaging, Three-Dimensional - standards; Lymphatic Metastasis - diagnosis; Lymphatic Metastasis - pathology; Lymphatic Metastasis - radiotherapy; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - standards; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Multimodal Imaging - standards; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - diagnosis; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - pathology; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - radiotherapy; Neoplasm Staging; Oncology; Ovarian Neoplasms - diagnosis; Ovarian Neoplasms - pathology; Ovarian Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Positron-Emission Tomography; Prognosis; Radiotherapy; Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted; Review Article; Sarcoma - diagnosis; Sarcoma - pathology; Sarcoma - radiotherapy; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Tumor Burden; Ultrasonography - standards; Vaginal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Vaginal Neoplasms - pathology; Vulvar Neoplasms - diagnosis; Vulvar Neoplasms - pathology; Vulvar Neoplasms - radiotherapy
• ISSN: 0179-7158; 1439-099X
• DOI: 10.1007/s00066-011-4002-z

Purpose To compose diagnostic standard operating procedures for both clinical and imaging assessment for vulvar and vaginal cancer, for vaginal sarcoma, and for ovarian cancer. Methods The literature was reviewed for diagnosing the above mentioned malignancies in the female pelvis. Special focus herein lies in tumor representation in MRI, followed by the evaluation of CT and PET/CT for this topic. Conclusion MRI is a useful additional diagnostic complement but by no means replaces established methods of gynecologic diagnostics and ultrasound. In fact, MRI is only implemented in the guidelines for vulvar cancer. According to the current literature, CT is still the cross-sectional imaging modality of choice for evaluating ovarian cancer. PET/CT appears to have advantages for staging and follow-up in sarcomas and cancers of the ovaries.