Lung Cancer. 2015 Jul 29. pii: S0169-5002(15)30017-9. doi: 10.1016/j.lungcan.2015.07.011. [Epub ahead of print]

Imaging in pleural mesothelioma: A review of the 12th International Conference of the InternationalMesothelioma Interest Group.

Armato SG 3rd1, Coolen J2, Nowak AK3, Robinson C4, Gill RR5, Straus C1, Khanwalkar A1.

Author information

• 1Department of Radiology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
• 2Department of Radiology, University Hospitals, Leuven, Belgium.
• 3School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Department of Medical Oncology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
• 4Molecular Anatomical Pathology, PathWest, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, Western Australia, Australia; School of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
• 5Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.

Abstract

Imaging of malignant pleural mesothelioma is essential to patient management, prognostication, and response assessment. From animal models to clinical trials, the gamut of research activities and clinical standards relies on imaging to provide information on lesion morphology and the growing number of physiologic characteristics amenable to capture through imaging techniques. The complex morphology, growth pattern, and biological mechanisms of mesothelioma, however, present challenges for image acquisition and interpretation. Nevertheless, novel approaches to image acquisition and subsequent image analysis have expanded the opportunities for (as well as the need for) imaging in this disease. This paper summarizes the imaging-based research presented orally at the 2014 International Conference of the InternationalMesothelioma Interest Group (iMig) in Cape Town, South Africa, October 2014. Presented topics include the imaging of hypoxia in a murine model through positron emission tomography (PET), the use of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to assess the histologic composition of biphasic mesothelioma and to assess early response to chemotherapy, the correlation of CT-based tumor volume with the volume of the post-surgical tumor specimen, the development of volumetric tumor response criteria, and pre-treatment tumor volume growth considerations for tumor response assessment.