Liver Tumor PET/MRI

MRI is the gold standard for anatomic imaging of the liver.  Different types of MRI contrast agents can increase the detection of lesions, and additionally the biliary system can be imaged.  For patients with liver lesions, combining the extra information provided by a PET tracer with liver MRI can help oncologists and surgeons plan therapies.

Figure 1: combined PET/MRI using FDG for staging of a patient with liver metastasis. In the right lobe of the liver there is a large treatment site seen on MRI (left column), but only when combining the information from the PET (right column) is it clear that there is viable tumor along the treatment site (circle).