RSNA Highlights

This lead them to conclude that Age has as much impact on the likelihood of former and current smokers developing lung cancer as the number of cigarettes consumed.

Claudia I. Henschke, Ph.D., M.D., is the principal investigator of the International Early Lung Cancer Action Project (I-ELCAP), the largest study ever undertaken on whether annual screening by computed tomography (CT) can prevent deaths from lung cancer.

"Annual CT screening identifies a high percentage of Stage I diagnoses of lung cancer, the most curable form of lung cancer," Dr. Henschke said. "Our study found that deaths from Stage I lung cancer were surprisingly low after surgery, but only if treatment is pursued."

Smokers should consult their doctors to determine at what age CT screening should begin, but this data provides the basis for such recommendations. With annual screening, there is a 76-78 percent chance of a smoker?s lung cancer being cured, Dr. Henschke said. Without screening, the probability for cure falls to 5-10 percent.

I-ELCAP data also showed that, regardless of a smoker?s age or how much has been smoked, the risk for developing lung cancer does not decline appreciably until 20 years after kicking the habit. Lung cancer remains the major cause of cancer death in both men and women, killing more people than breast, prostate and colon cancers combined, according to the American Cancer Society.

MRI Shows Liver Tumors Freezing in Real Time

Cryotherapy combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is giving doctors unprecedented control during liver cancer treatment by allowing them to observe the tumors freezing in real time.
"We can actually watch the iceball grow," said Kemal Tuncali, M.D. "We have better control over the means of killing the tumor with MR guidance and cryotherapy. We can also watch out for critical structures around the area that we don?t want to damage, like the bowel, stomach or gall bladder."

Liver cancer is notoriously difficult to treat with standard methods such as chemotherapy and open surgery.
Physicians are turning to alternative ways of destroying tumors, including cryotherapy. Interventional radiologists perform cryotherapy by inserting a needle called a cryoprobe directly into the cancerous tissue and using argon gas to freeze the tumor. Using MRI, the radiologist can target the best site for placing the probe and monitor treatment as it happens to avoid damaging surrounding tissue.

Among 39 tumors treated with cryotherapy, 19 were successfully destroyed (17 with only one treatment).

A summary of the second half of the scientific presentations can be found in next months edition.

Barbara Domb
Diagnostico Journal

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