Role of transvaginal contrast enhanced MRI in early detection and staging of cervical cancer: a review

ABSTRACT

Cervical cancer is the second most common gynecologic malignancy. It usually takes years for pre-cancerous changes to turn into cervical cancer. This pre-cancerous change when detected is 100% treatable. Accurate cervical cancer staging is crucial for appropriate treatment selection and treatment planning. The greatest difficulties in the clinical staging are the estimation of tumor size, especially if the tumor is primarily endocervical in location. MRI has excellent soft-tissue contrast resolution, which exceeds that of CT and US. Consequently, MRI is significantly more valuable in the assessment of the size of the tumor, the depth of cervical invasion, and the local-regional extent of the disease