Giuseppe Petralia1, Josep Garcia-Bennett2, Luke Bonello3, Stefano Viotti3, Paul Summers1, Maria Giulia Zampino1, Maria Cristina Leonardi1, Massimo Bellomi1, 3
1European Institute of Oncology, Milan, Italy; 2Hospital St Joan de Reus, Reus, Spain; 3University of Milan School of Radiology, Milan, Italy
Better long-term outcome is reported for rectal cancer patients with pathological complete response (pCR) after neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy (NACRT). Minimalist approaches are a reasonable alternative to radical surgery in such patients, with equivalent outcomes. T2-weighted MRI is not predictive of pCR. Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) detects abnormalities in tissues and there is preliminary evidence that the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) may predict response to therapy. Fifty-nine patients underwent DW-MRI before and after NACRT, and ADC was calculated for tumour. ADC values before and after NACRT and their changes following treatment did not predict the pCR after NACRT in rectal cancer patients.