PhD defence Elias Nerad

Keywords: Colon, Cancer, MRI, CT

"Staging Accuracy Of Colon Cancer And The Potential Of MRI"

The colon and rectum are parts of the large intestine, and cancer in these areas is called colorectal cancer. It is one of the most common causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. For rectal cancer, patients often receive chemotherapy or radiation before surgery to improve outcomes. This approach is not commonly used for colon cancer, but researchers are now studying whether it could help certain high-risk patients whose tumors are advanced but still treatable.

A key challenge is correctly identifying which patients are truly high risk. This research compared CT and MRI scans to see how well they can do this. A simpler way of defining high risk—based on whether the tumor has grown through the bowel wall—proved most accurate. CT scans are slightly better at finding possible problems, while MRI is better at confirming them. MRI may also better detect cancer spread within the abdomen, especially in more complex cases.

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