Pre-operative tumor assessment of patients with gastric cancer based on virtual endoscopy using multidetector-row computer tomography.

BACKGROUND

The possibilities and limitations of computer tomography (CT) examination for detecting primary gastric cancer tumors have been poorly understood. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the pre-operative assessment of gastric cancer tumors using 32-multidetector row-CT.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

A prospective study of the pre-operative assessment of gastric cancer tumors using 32-multidetector row-CT was carried out. Seventy-four patients with adenocarcinoma of the stomach (T1 tumors, 38; T2 and T3 tumors, 36) underwent abdominal CTs to assess the feasibility of using MD-CT to assess primary lesions.

RESULTS

In 35 (47%) out of the 74 patients, the primary lesions could be detected on 2-D images obtained by CT. In these patients, virtual endoscopic images of these tumors could be created. Twenty-seven advanced cancer tumors (75%) were assessed based on 2-D CT images and 27 larger tumors (>40 mm) (69%) were assessed based on 2-D CT images. Significant differences were found with respect to depth of tumor (p<0.0001) and tumor size (p<0.0001) between tumors that could or could not be assessed on MD-CT.

CONCLUSION

The findings of the present study show that CT assessment of tumors is feasible in patients with advanced gastric cancer. Future studies are required to fully explore the ability of MD-CT to assess tumor volume in advanced gastric cancer cases and to determine the optimum application of this approach.