Novel MRI technique could limit radiation exposure when assessing tumor response

A study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH; MD, USA) has demonstrated that whole-body diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) technique has the potential to assess treatment responses in pediatric cancer patients utilizing lower levels of radiation than current standard techniques. The results of a small study – published this week in Radiology – has compared the efficacy of DW-MRI to fluorine-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) for the assessment of tumor response to chemotherapy in pediatric patients.FDG-PET is an established technique that measures tumor metabolism following an injection of radioactive glucose, it is normally used in conjunction with CT scans. The...