USPIO: New MR Contrast Agent for Evaluation of Metastatic Lymph Nodes

accurate detection and characterization of lymph node metastases is crucial for planning therapy and determining prognosis in patients with various un-derlying primary tumors such as the breast, prostate, head and neck, urogenital, melanoma and other cancers. CT and MR imaging are of limited value because they primarily rely on the tumor size for differentiating benign from malignant lymph nodes. Ultrasmall super paramagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) (Combidex or Ferumoxtran-10; Advanced Magnetics, Sinerem; Guerbet) is an MR contrast agent that has shown improved accuracy in the staging of lymph nodes in cancer patients. Animal and recent human studies have shown that USPIO particles allow MR differentiation of benign from malignant lymph nodes based on enhancement patterns."nThis lecture is a review about new imaging methods in oncological imaging, especially for the lymphatic system.