title: What Is the Best Preoperative Imaging for Endometrial Cancer?
abstract: Although endometrial cancer is surgicopathologically staged, preoperative imaging is recommended for diagnostic work-up to tailor surgery and adjuvant treatment. For preoperative staging, imaging by transvaginal ultrasound (TVU) and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is valuable to assess local tumor extent, and positron emission tomography-CT (PET-CT) and/or computed tomography (CT) to assess lymph node metastases and distant spread. Preoperative imaging may identify deep myometrial invasion, cervical stromal involvement, pelvic and/or paraaortic lymph node metastases, and distant spread, however, with reported limitations in accuracies and reproducibility. Novel structural and functional imaging techniques offer visualization of microstructural and functional tumor characteristics, reportedly linked to clinical phenotype, thus with a potential for improving risk stratification. In this review, we summarize the reported staging performances of conventional and novel preoperative imaging methods and provide an overview of promising novel imaging methods relevant for endometrial cancer care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Haukeland University Hospital, Jonas Liesvei 65, Postbox 7800, 5021, Bergen, Norway. ingfrid.haldorsen@helse-bergen.no.|Section for Radiology, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, 5020, Bergen, Norway. ingfrid.haldorsen@helse-bergen.no.
authors.forename: Ingfrid S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Haldorsen
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Haukeland University Hospital, 5020, Bergen, Norway.|Department of Clinical Science, University of Bergen, 5020, Bergen, Norway.
authors.forename: Helga B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Salvesen
mesh_terms: D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D057234:Preoperative Period; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Computed tomography; Diffusion weighted imaging; Endometrial cancer; Imaging biomarkers; Magnetic resonance imaging; Positron emission tomography; Preoperative imaging; Staging; Vaginal ultrasound