Researchers from University Hospital Essen found that PET/MRI significantly improved the assessment of cervical cancer of unknown primary origin compared to MRI alone.
Approximately 20 patients underwent a simultaneous FDG-PET/MRI scan (Biograph mMR, Siemens Healthcare). The MRI protocol included T1-weighted and T2-weighted turbo spin-echo (TSE); diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI); T1-weighted first postcontrast subtracted (FAST) volumetric-interpolated breath-hold examination (VIBE); and T1-weighted FAST TSE sequences. All sequences were performed with administration of gadoteric acid (Dotarem, Guerbet).
FDG-PET/MRI correctly identified the 62% of patients who had primary cervical cancer, while MRI alone detected only 43% of those individuals. FDG-PET/MRI also achieved greater lesion conspicuity and diagnostic confidence than MRI alone.
FDG-PET/MRI "can be considered a highly valuable tool" for assessing cervical cancer of unknown primary origin, lead author Dr. Lale Umutlu and colleagues concluded. This study is still in progress, as the researchers plan to enlarge the study population to validate the results.
Evaluating cervical cancer of unknown primary cause can be very challenging, Umutlu told AuntMinnie.com.
"Previous studies showed the high diagnostic value of hybrid imaging by means of PET/CT over conventional imaging techniques like CT or MRI," he said. "Our study confirms this important message, while being able to reduce the applied ionizing radiation utilizing PET/MRI, when compared to full-dose, contrast-enhanced PET/CT."
