Is primary tumor detectable in prostatic carcinoma at routine contrast-enhanced CT?

MDCT diagnosis of synchronous primary gastrointestinal tract carcinoma and other solid malignancies: case series study

Background

The presentation of synchronous multiple primary tumors is rare. The aim of this report was to report an uncommon series of cases diagnosed with synchronous gastrointestinal tract carcinoma and other solid malignancies by multidetector computed tomography.

Case presentation

Our report included 34 patients with synchronous gastrointestinal tract carcinoma and other solid malignancies from November 2009 to September 2019. They were 14 men and 20 women (mean age, 65.5 year; range, 52–82 years). The highest number of GIT cases were colonic carcinomas detected in 70% (24/34) of the patients. The most frequent extra-gastrointestinal primary malignancy sites were renal cell and breast carcinomas, 17.6% (6/34) of each.

Conclusions

Careful preoperative evaluation is recommended to detect this pattern of synchronous extra-gastrointestinal tumors. More reports of such cases should help to clarify the pathogenesis of this phenomenon and may lead to a new treatment strategy for synchronous gastrointestinal malignancy and other solid malignancies.

Improving radiation physics, tumor visualisation, and treatment quantification in radiotherapy with spectral or dual-energy CT

Over the past decade, spectral or dual‐energy CT has gained relevancy, especially in oncological radiology. Nonetheless, its use in the radiotherapy (RT) clinic remains limited. This review article aims to give an overview of the current state of spectral CT and to explore opportunities for applications in RT.

In this article, three groups of benefits of spectral CT over conventional CT in RT are recognized. Firstly, spectral CT provides more information of physical properties of the body, which can improve dose calculation. Furthermore, it improves the visibility of tumors, for a wide variety of malignancies as well as organs‐at‐risk OARs, which could reduce treatment uncertainty. And finally, spectral CT provides quantitative physiological information, which can be used to personalize and quantify treatment.

Contribution of Radiology to Staging of Prostate Cancer

Accurate tumor detection and establishment of disease extent are important for optimal management of prostate cancer. Disease stage, beginning with identification of the index prostate lesion, followed by primary tumor, lymph node, and distant metastasis evaluation, provide crucial clinical information that not only have prognostic and predictive value, but guide patient management. A wide array of radiological imaging modalities including ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging have been used for the purpose of prostate cancer staging with variable diagnostic performance. Especially, the last years have seen remarkable technological advances in magnetic resonance imaging technology, enabling referring clinicians and radiologists to obtain even more valuable data regarding staging of prostate cancer. Marked improvements have been seen in detection of the index prostate lesion and evaluation of extraprostatic extension while further improvements are still needed in identifying metastatic lymph nodes. Novel approaches such as whole-body MRI are emerging for more accurate and reproducible assessment of bone metastasis. Post-treatment assessment of prostate cancer using radiological imaging is a topic with rapidly changing clinical context and special consideration is needed for the biochemical setting, that is, the relatively high serum prostate-specific antigen levels in studies assessing the value of radiological imaging for post-treatment assessment and emerging therapeutic approaches such as early salvage radiation therapy. The scope of this review is to provide the reader insight into the various ways radiology contribute to staging of prostate cancer in the context of both primary staging and post-treatment assessment. The strengths and limitations of each imaging modality are highlighted as well as topics that warrant future research.