Radiology and Cancer Flashcards
Uses of malignancy in imaging (4)
Screening - Detects of pre-cancerous
Diagnosis
Staging
Follow up
Screening examples (2)
Breast cancer - Asymptomatic patients for mammography
Colon cancer - Patients with positive faecal occult blood test
Gold standard for colon cancer screening (2)
Optical colonoscopy
CT virtual
Specific symptoms requiring imaging (4)
Haematuria
Haemoptysis
Palpable mass
Anaemia
Non-specific symptoms requiring imaging (4)
Weight loss
Anorexia
Night sweats
Raised inflammatory markers
Roles of imaging in staging (3)
Indicates localised, locally advanced or metastatic disease
Aids management decisions
Finds common patterns of disease
Role of CT or MRI in disease staging (2)
Identifies tumour relationship to adjacent structures
Determines surgical resectability
Staging metastatic disease requires
IV contrast to assess multiple sites at once
Liver metastasis presentation (3)
Hypoenhancing compared to liver on CT
Targets appearance
Often multiple
Lung metastasis presentation (3)
Multiple
Rounded
Basal predominant
Bone metastasis presentation points (6)
Taken from axial plane Ill defined Indicates lytic or sclerotic Distinguishes multiple or solitary Tells risk of fracture MRI offers superb marrow signal resolution and can assess for spinal cordcompression
Brain metastasis presentation (5)
Multiple lesion more common than solitary
Enhancing
Mass effect
Disproportionate amount of oedema
Can be in patients with known cancer or first presentation with symptoms of occult disease elsewhere
Imaging in follow up sessions uses (4)
Assess response to therapy - Continue, change or stop
Assess response to therapy pre surgical intervention
Monitor for progress to instigate treatment
Look for recurrence, local or metastatic disease
