[Magnetic resonance tomography of soft tissue tumors]

Soft tissue tumors are relatively often seen on MR tomography, although they make up a fairly small proportion of malignant lesions. To date, most soft tissue tumors have been investigated by MRI because of its unique soft tissue contrasts and its flexibility in slice orientation. But is MRI really adequate for staging and defining soft tissue tumors, or what role does it have pre-therapeutic work-up? Most malignant soft tissue tumors give rise to somewhat similar MRI findings and may not be sufficiently well characterized. On the other hand, some benign lesions can be clearly identified and staged. The goal of this paper is a critical discussion of the ability of MRI to define a lesion's degree of malignancy, to evaluate diagnostic criteria, and to describe requirements in the set-up of the investigation.