Preliminary study of DCE-MRI combined with DWI in discriminating tumor deposits from lymph node metastasis in rectal cancer

Tumor deposits (TDs) in rectal cancer have been shown to be an important marker of poor prognosis. Although very similar to lymph node metastasis (LNMs), TDs have unique features in terms of biology and outcome, suggesting that distinguishing between these two entities may be of great importance. Results of this study indicate DWI and DCE-MRI can effectively differentiate TDs and LNMs in rectal cancer, Combination of DWI and DCE-MRI imaging may serve as an effective noninvasive method for differentiation of TDs from LNMs in rectal cancer.