Tumour thickness in oral cancer using an intra-oral ultrasound probe

To investigate tumour-thickness measurement with an intra-operative ultrasound (US) probe. A retrospective data analysis was undertaken for a total of 65 patients with a T1-2 oral cavity cancer, who were seen at a tertiary referral centre between 2004 and 2010. The correspondence between tumour thickness measured by ultrasonography and histopathology was assessed by Pearson's correlation coefficient, and also between tumour thickness and the development of neck metastasis. In 11 cases, intra-oral measurement was not optimal due to limited mouth opening (n = 2) or impossibility to depict the lesion (n = 9). Tumour thickness measured by US correlated well with histopathology (n = 23, R = 0.93). Tumour thickness of a parts per thousand currency sign7 mm carries a risk of lymph node metastasis of 12%, whereas in tumours exceeding 7 mm this risk is 57% (p = 0.001). Twenty-five percent developed neck metastasis and 19% had local recurrence. Tumour thickness is an important predictive marker for lymph node metastases. As such, it can help in decision-making with regard to management of the primary tumour and neck. Based upon our findings, a wait-and-see policy is only warranted for superficial lesions with tumour thickness of less than 7 mm, but only if regular follow-up using US-guided aspiration of the neck is ensure

MRI of the breast in patients with DCIS to exclude the presence of invasive disease

Core biopsy underestimates invasion in more than 20% of patients with preoperatively diagnosed ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) without evidence of invasion (pure DCIS). The aim of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to discriminate between patients with DCIS who are at high risk of invasive breast cancer and patients at low risk. One hundred and twenty-five patients, preoperatively diagnosed with pure DCIS (128 lesions; 3 bilateral) by core-needle biopsy, were prospectively included. Clinical, mammographic, histological (core biopsy) and MRI features were assessed. All patients underwent breast surgery. Analyses were performed to identify features associated with presence of invasion. Eighteen lesions (14.1%) showed invasion on final histology. Seventy-three lesions (57%) showed suspicious enhancement on MRI with a type 1 (n = 12, 16.4%), type 2 (n = 19, 26.0%) or type 3 curve, respectively (n = 42, 57.5%). At multivariate analysis, the most predictive features for excluding presence of invasive disease were absence of enhancement or a type 1 curve on MRI (negative predictive value 98.5%; A(Z) 0.80, P = 0.00006). Contrast medium uptake kinetics at MRI provide high negative predictive value to exclude presence of invasion and may be useful in primary surgical planning in patients with a preoperative diagnosis of pure DCIS. aEuro cent It is important to determine invasion in breast DCIS. aEuro cent MRI contrast medium uptake kinetics can help exclude the presence of invasion. aEuro cent However, the positive predictive value for the presence of invasion is limited. aEuro cent MRI features were more accurate at predicting invasion than mammographic features alon

Prostate tumor delineation using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging : Inter-observer variability and pathology validation

Background and purpose: Boosting the dose to the largest (dominant) lesion in radiotherapy of prostate cancer may improve treatment outcome. The success of this approach relies on the detection and delineation of tumors. The agreement among teams of radiation oncologists and radiologists delineating lesions on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mp-MRI) was assessed by measuring the distances between observer contours. The accuracy of detection and delineation was determined using whole-mount histopathology specimens as reference. Material and methods: Six observer teams delineated tumors on mp-MRI of 20 prostate cancer patients who underwent a prostatectomy. To assess the inter-observer agreement, the inter-observer standard deviation (SD) of the contours was calculated for tumor sites which were identified by all teams. Results: Eighteen of 89 lesions were identified by all teams, all were dominant lesions. The median histological volume of these was 2.4 cm(3). The median inter-observer SD of the delineations was 0.23 cm. Sixty-six of 69 satellites were missed by all teams. Conclusion: Since all teams identify most dominant lesions, dose escalation to the dominant lesion is feasible. Sufficient dose to the whole prostate may need to be maintained to prevent under treatment of smaller lesions and undetected parts of larger lesions. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd