Role of Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced MRI in Detecting Post-Treatment Local Recurrence of Soft-Tissue Sarcomas: A...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Radiology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) local recurrence (LR) detection is crucial after treatment.
• Conventional MRI may struggle to differentiate LR from post-treatment changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the role of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in detecting STS LR.
• To assess the diagnostic accuracy of DCE-MRI for LR detection.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search of PubMed, Embase, and Scopus (1990-2024).
• Inclusion of six studies with 309 patients (110 with LR).
• Bivariate diagnostic test accuracy meta-analysis to estimate pooled sensitivity, specificity, and SROC curve area.

Main Results:

• DCE-MRI features (qualitative and quantitative) differentiated LR from post-treatment changes.
• Combined DCE-MRI and conventional MRI achieved 98% sensitivity and 83% specificity for LR detection.
• Area under the SROC curve was 0.94, indicating high diagnostic accuracy.

Conclusions:

• DCE-MRI enhances the accuracy of LR detection in STS when combined with conventional MRI.
• DCE-MRI offers superior specificity and sensitivity for distinguishing LR from post-surgical changes.
• Consideration of DCE-MRI is supported when LR is suspected; further prospective studies are needed.