Resumen / Abstract

Colorectal cancer - Why is magnetic resonance imaging important for diagnosis?

VOLUME 23 - NUMBER 4 / Octubre-Diciembre (Artículo de revisión / Review article)

Julita del Socorro Orozco Vázquez, Department of Radiology, Centro Medico Nacional "20 de Noviembre", Mexico City, Mexico
Juan Alberto Hernández Olmos, Department of Radiology, Centro Medico Nacional "20 de Noviembre", Mexico City, Mexico
David Timaran, Department of Radiology, Centro Medico Nacional "20 de Noviembre", Mexico City, Mexico

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an integral part of the interdisciplinary approach for colorectal carcinoma. Rectal MRI establishes TMN stage and identifies prognostic factors, including circumferential resection margin and extramural vascular invasion that may help to determine patients with indication for neoadjuvant chemoradiation and systemic chemotherapy. Treatment response after chemotherapy and chemoradiation may be performed with the use of rectal MRI. Similarly, MRI may identify patients with no residual visible tumor who may be candidates for conservative management ("watch and wait"). Rectal MRI may be complemented by other imaging methods such as, ultrasound, CT-scans, and/or PET-CTs to assess distant metastasis. Additionally, advanced MRI techniques may help to assess anatomic characterization of rectal lesions with the use of volumetry and magnetic transfer MRI.

Palabras clave: Colorectal cancer. Colorectal MRI. Colorectal cancer staging. Colorectal cancer metastasis. Tumor response.