Radiology for Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Cancer

A special issue of Cancers (ISSN 2072-6694). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Causes, Screening and Diagnosis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2024 | Viewed by 2475

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8575, Ibaraki, Japan
Interests: diagnostic imaging; interventional radiology; artificial intelligence; radiomics; radiogenomics; photoimmunotherapy; cancer-bearing animal model; dual-energy CT
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba 305-8577, Japan
Interests: radiomics; bioinformatics; deep learning; molecular imaging; DNA damage repair

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

With the latest advances in medical technology, we are expanding the possibilities for the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer. Radiology is positioned at the center of these advances. Therefore, in this Special Issue, we explore innovative approaches in the diagnosis and treatment of liver cancer, focusing on advances and applications of state-of-the-art radiology.

We are currently seeking abstracts for this Special Issue on the following topics: 1) recent advances in hepatocellular carcinoma imaging techniques, 2) new possibilities for hepatocellular carcinoma treatment with radiation therapy including particle beams, 3) combining artificial intelligence (AI) and diagnostic radiology to improve outcomes for hepatocellular carcinoma patients, 4) new radiological approaches to 4) the optimization of liver cancer treatment by integrating new radiation technologies with existing therapies, and 5) personalized treatment strategies based on advances in imaging technologies and molecular radiation therapy.

Your research results, insights, and new perspectives will enhance our knowledge and understanding and open new avenues in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with liver cancer. Please share your latest research, new perspectives, or new suggestions for moving forward. We sincerely welcome your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Takahito Nakajima
Dr. Wenchao Gu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Cancers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • liver cancer
  • hepatocellular carcinoma
  • diagnostic imaging
  • radiotherapy
  • artificial intelligence in radiology
  • treatment optimization
  • integrated therapies
  • personalized medicine
  • review for Li-RADS

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2765 KiB  
Article
Intrahepatic Mass-Forming Cholangiocarcinoma: Is There Additional Prognostic Value in Using Gd-EOB Enhanced MRI?
by Sebastian Halskov, Felix Krenzien, Laura Segger, Dominik Geisel, Bernd Hamm, Uwe Pelzer, Jana Ihlow, Wenzel Schöning, Timo Alexander Auer and Uli Fehrenbach
Cancers 2024, 16(7), 1314; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cancers16071314 - 28 Mar 2024
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Abstract
Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of enhancement patterns of intrahepatic mass-forming cholangiocarcinomas (IMCCs) during the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) in gadoxetic acid (Gd-EOB)-enhanced MRI. Methods: We retrospectively identified 66 consecutive patients with histopathologically proven IMCCs (reference standard: resection) and preoperative Gd-EOB-enhanced MRI. Gd-EOB [...] Read more.
Objective: To investigate the prognostic value of enhancement patterns of intrahepatic mass-forming cholangiocarcinomas (IMCCs) during the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) in gadoxetic acid (Gd-EOB)-enhanced MRI. Methods: We retrospectively identified 66 consecutive patients with histopathologically proven IMCCs (reference standard: resection) and preoperative Gd-EOB-enhanced MRI. Gd-EOB retention area was subjectively rated based on areas of intermediate signal intensity. Lesions were classified as either hypointense (0–25% retention area) or significantly-retaining (>25% retention area). Clinical, radiological, and prognostic features were compared between these groups. The primary endpoints were recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) after primary surgical resection. Results: 73% (48/66) of lesions were rated as hypointense and 29% (19/66) as significantly-retaining. While the hypointense subgroup more frequently featured local and distant intrahepatic metastases (p = 0.039 and p = 0.022) and an infiltrative growth pattern (p = 0.005), RFS, OS, and clinical features did not differ significantly with estimated Gd-EOB retention area or quantitatively measured HBP enhancement ratios. Lymph node metastasis was an independent predictor of poor RFS (p = 0.001). Conclusions: Gd-EOB-enhanced MRI revealed two subtypes of IMCC in the HBP: hypointense and signal-retaining. The hypointense subtype is associated with more frequent intrahepatic metastases and an infiltrative growth pattern, indicating potential tumor aggressiveness. However, this did not result in a significant difference in survival after the primary resection of IMCC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiology for Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Cancer)
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12 pages, 6451 KiB  
Article
Tumor Response on Diagnostic Imaging after Proton Beam Therapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
by Hikaru Niitsu, Masashi Mizumoto, Yinuo Li, Masatoshi Nakamura, Toshiki Ishida, Takashi Iizumi, Takashi Saito, Haruko Numajiri, Hirokazu Makishima, Kei Nakai, Yoshiko Oshiro, Kazushi Maruo and Hideyuki Sakurai
Cancers 2024, 16(2), 357; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cancers16020357 - 14 Jan 2024
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Abstract
Background: Follow-up after treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be mostly performed using dynamic CT or MRI, but there is no common evaluation method after radiation therapy. The purpose of this study is to examine factors involved in tumor reduction and local recurrence [...] Read more.
Background: Follow-up after treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be mostly performed using dynamic CT or MRI, but there is no common evaluation method after radiation therapy. The purpose of this study is to examine factors involved in tumor reduction and local recurrence in patients with HCC treated with proton beam therapy (PBT) and to evaluate HCC shrinkage after PBT. Methods: Cases with only one irradiated lesion or those with two lesions irradiated simultaneously were included in this study. Pre- and post-treatment lesions were evaluated using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) by measuring the largest diameter. Results: The 6-, 12-, and 24-month CR + PR rates after PBT were 33.1%, 57.5%, and 76.9%, respectively, and the reduction rates were 25.1% in the first 6 months, 23.3% at 6–12 months, and 14.5% at 13–24 months. Cases that reached CR/PR at 6 and 12 months had improved OS compared to non-CR/non-PR cases. Conclusions: It is possible that a lesion that reached SD may subsequently transition to PR; it is reasonable to monitor progress with periodic imaging evaluations even after 1 year of treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiology for Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Cancer)
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13 pages, 1174 KiB  
Article
Complementary Role of CEUS and CT/MR LI-RADS for Diagnosis of Recurrent HCC
by Mei-Qing Cheng, Hui Huang, Si-Min Ruan, Ping Xu, Wen-Juan Tong, Dan-Ni He, Yang Huang, Man-Xia Lin, Ming-De Lu, Ming Kuang, Wei Wang, Shao-Hong Wu and Li-Da Chen
Cancers 2023, 15(24), 5743; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/cancers15245743 - 07 Dec 2023
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Abstract
Purpose: We retrospectively compared the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced computer tomography–magnetic resonance imaging (CT/MRI) for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative treatment. Materials and methods: After curative treatment with 421 ultrasound (US) detected lesions, 303 HCC patients underwent both [...] Read more.
Purpose: We retrospectively compared the diagnostic performance of contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) and contrast-enhanced computer tomography–magnetic resonance imaging (CT/MRI) for recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative treatment. Materials and methods: After curative treatment with 421 ultrasound (US) detected lesions, 303 HCC patients underwent both CEUS and CT/MRI. Each lesion was assigned a Liver Imaging Reporting and Data System (LI-RADS) category according to CEUS and CT/MRI LI-RADS. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were computed to determine the optimal diagnosis algorithms for CEUS, CT and MRI. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) were compared between CEUS and CT/MRI. Results: Among the 421 lesions, 218 were diagnosed as recurrent HCC, whereas 203 lesions were diagnosed as benign. In recurrent HCC, CEUS detected more arterial hyperenhancement (APHE) and washout than CT and more APHE than MRI. CEUS yielded better diagnostic performance than CT (AUC: 0.981 vs. 0.958) (p = 0.024) comparable diagnostic performance to MRI (AUC: 0.952 vs. 0.933) (p > 0.05) when using their optimal diagnostic criteria. CEUS missed 12 recurrent HCCs, CT missed one, and MRI missed none. The detection rate of recurrent HCC on CEUS (94.8%, 218/230) was lower than that on CT/MRI (99.6%, 259/260) (p = 0.001). Lesions located on the US blind spots and visualization score C would hinder the ability of CEUS to detect recurrent HCC. Conclusion: CEUS demonstrated excellent diagnostic performance but an inferior detection rate for recurrent HCC. CEUS and CT/MRI played a complementary role in the detection and characterization of recurrent HCC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Radiology for Diagnosis and Treatment of Liver Cancer)
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