Cancers, Vol. 14, Pages 3997: Current Imaging Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Cancers, Vol. 14, Pages 3997: Current Imaging Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cancers doi: 10.3390/cancers14163997 Authors: Evangelos Chartampilas Vasileios Rafailidis Vivian Georgopoulou Georgios Kalarakis Adam Hatzidakis Panos Prassopoulos Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer related death worldwide. Radiology has traditionally played a central role in HCC management, ranging from screening of high-risk patients to non-invasive diagnosis, as well as the evaluation of treatment response and post-treatment follow-up. From liver ultrasonography with or without contrast to dynamic multiple phased CT and dynamic MRI with diffusion protocols, great progress has been achieved in the last decade. Throughout the last few years, pathological, biological, genetic, and immune-chemical analyses have revealed several tumoral subtypes with diverse biological behavior, highlighting the need for the re-evaluation of established radiological methods. Considering these changes, novel methods that provide functional and quantitative parameters in addition to morphological information are increasingly incorporated into modern diagnostic protocols for HCC. In this way, differential diagnosis became even more challenging throughout the last few years. Use of liver specific contrast agents, as well as CT/MRI perfusion techniques, seem to not only allow earlier detection and more accurate characterization of HCC lesions, but also make it possi...
Source: Cancers - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Review Source Type: research