[Colorectal cancer: contribution of new diagnostic tools]

Colorectal cancers profited much from the progress of the imagery, which have occurred since a score of years. The imagery by magnetic resonance, in particular, supplanted the porto-scanner in the evaluation of hepatic metastases of colorectal cancers requiring a surgery. In the field of the assessment of the metastatic disease, like in the event of suspicion of recurrence of a cancer of the rectum, the functional imagery with tomography by emission of positons also represents a major projection whose indications should grow progressively with the equipment of the territory. The echo-endoscopy, whose advent is older, allows a very precise exploration of the loco-regional extension of cancers of the rectum, indication for which it was still threatened by no other examination. Lastly, and whereas its place largely remains to be defined, images obtained by virtual coloscopy, are very impressive. It however will be necessary, in the years to come, to precisely evaluate the interest of this new method of imagery in the diagnosis of colorectal tumors, or in the follow-up of certain patients.