Purpose To prospectively determine the reproducibility of quantitative magnetic resonance (MR) imaging biomarkers of the morphology and composition (spin lattice relaxation time in rotating frame [T1-ρ], T2) of knee cartilage in a multicenter multivendor trial involving patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and asymptomatic control subjects. Materials and Methods This study was HIPAA compliant and approved by the institutional review committees of the participating sites, with written informed consent obtained from all participants. Fifty subjects from five sites who were deemed to have normal knee joints (n = 18), mild OA (n = 16), or moderate OA (n = 16) on the basis of Kellgren-Lawrence scores were enrolled. Each participant underwent four sequential 3-T knee MR imaging examinations with use of the same imager and with 2–63 days (median, 18 days) separating the first and last examinations. Water-excited three-dimensional T1-weighted gradient-echo imaging, T1-ρ imaging, and T2 mapping of cartilage in the axial and coronal planes were performed. Biomarker reproducibility was determined by using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and root-mean-square coefficients of variation (RMS CVs, expressed as percentages). Results Morphometric biomarkers had high reproducibility, with ICCs of 0.989 or greater and RMS CVs lower than 4%. The largest differences between the healthy subjects and the patients with radiographically detected knee OA were those in T1-ρ values, but precision errors were relatively large. Reproducibility of T1-ρ values was higher in the thicker patellar cartilage (ICC range, 0.86–0.93; RMS CV range, 14%–18%) than in the femorotibial joints (ICC range, 0.20–0.84; RMS CV range, 7%–19%). Good to high reproducibility of T2 was observed, with ICCs ranging from 0.61 to 0.98 and RMS CVs ranging from 4% to 14%. Conclusion MR imaging measurements of cartilage morphology, T2, and patellar T1-ρ demonstrated moderate to excellent reproducibility in a clinical trial network.

No abstract

Preoperative therapy for borderline resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma is associated with higher margin-negative resection and survival rates in patients with Ishikawa type II and III tumors, defined as a smooth shift or unilateral narrowing of the PV-SMV. Patients with bilateral venous narrowing were less likely to benefit from preoperative treatment.

No abstract

BACKGROUND Cranial nerve lesions due to metastases from prostate carcinoma to the skull base are an uncommon yet clinically significant finding. METHODS The authors report the clinical features, treatment, and outcomes for 15 patients who presented with cranial nerve palsies complicating metastatic prostate carcinoma. Patient charts identified from a Fox Chase Cancer Center treatment data base were reviewed. RESULTS All patients had hormone‐refractory disease at the time of symptom onset. Twelve of 15 patients had received prior chemotherapy, and 13 of 15 patients had received prior radiation therapy to areas of bony pain. Symptoms varied from recognized clinical syndromes involving multiple cranial nerves to isolated cranial nerve lesions. All patients had lesions at the skull base that were visualized on computed tomography scans or magnetic resonance images. All patients were treated with palliative radiation therapy to either the whole brain or the skull base. Fourteen of 15 patients had a clinical (either partial or complete) response to radiation therapy. All responding patients subsequently died of prostate carcinoma without worsening of residual or development of new cranial nerve symptoms. Ten of 15 patients (67%) died within 3 months of developing symptoms, and the remaining 5 patients lived between 9 months and 31 months from onset of symptoms. CONCLUSIONS The authors concluded that palliative radiation therapy should be considered in this heterogeneous group of patients given the potential for significant symptom improvement. Cancer 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.