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Imaging of malignant tumours of the long bones in children: monitoring response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and preoperative assessment

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Abstract

This review focuses on imaging of osteosarcoma and Ewing’s sarcoma of the long bones in children during preoperative neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Morphological criteria on plain films and conventional static MRI are insufficiently correlated with histological response. We review the contribution of dynamic MRI, diffusion-weighted MR and nuclear medicine (18FDG-PET) to monitor tumoural necrosis. MRI is currently the best method to evaluate local extension prior to tumour resection, especially to assess the feasibility of conservative surgery. Quantitative models in dynamic MRI and 18FDG-PET are currently being developed in order to find new early prognostic criteria, but for the time being, treatment protocols are still based on the gold standard of histological response.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Imaging Department, Institut Curie, 26 rue d’Ulm, 75005, Paris, France

    Hervé Brisse, Liliane Ollivier, Véronique Edeline & Sylvia Neuenschwander

  2. Department of Paediatric Oncology, Institut Curie, Paris, France

    Hélène Pacquement & Jean Michon

  3. Department of Paediatric Surgery, Hôpital Necker Enfants-Malades, Paris, France

    Christophe Glorion

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  1. Hervé Brisse
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  2. Liliane Ollivier
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  3. Véronique Edeline
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  7. Sylvia Neuenschwander
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Correspondence to Hervé Brisse.

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Brisse, H., Ollivier, L., Edeline, V. et al. Imaging of malignant tumours of the long bones in children: monitoring response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and preoperative assessment. Pediatr Radiol 34, 595–605 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-004-1192-x

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