More support for MRI in pinpointing tumor recurrence

Researchers from the division of neuro-oncology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania found that the fraction of malignant histologic features in enhancing brain neoplasms that recur after treatment can be predicted by using the relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV) fraction on standard MR imaging studies.

Measuring rCBV offered improved differentiation between recurrent neoplasm and treatment-related necrosis, wrote Philadelphia-based Emerson L. Gasparetto, MD, PhD, and colleagues, including Ronald L. Wolfe, MD.

The authors determined that the rCBV threshold was 1.8 times that of normal-appearing white matter and that a unit increase of rCBV was associated with a 254-fold increase of the odds that enhanced tissue was recurrence (Radiology 250:887-896, 2009).