Oncologically Relevant Findings Reporting and Data System (ONCO-RADS): Guidelines for the Acquisition, Interpretation, and Reporting of Whole-Body MRI for Cancer Screening

Abstract

number of examinations being performed in patients with known cancers, an international multidisciplinary expert panel of radiologists and a geneticist with subject-specific expertise formulated technical acquisition standards, interpretation criteria, and limitations of whole-body MRI for cancer screening in individuals at higher risk, including those with cancer predisposition syndromes. The Oncologically Relevant Findings Reporting and Data System (ONCO-RADS) proposes a standard protocol for individuals at higher risk, including those with cancer predisposition syndromes. ONCO-RADS emphasizes structured reporting and five assessment categories for the classification of whole-body MRI findings. The ONCO-RADS guidelines are designed to promote standardization and limit variations in the acquisition, interpretation, and reporting of whole-body MRI scans for cancer screening.

Whole‐body magnetic resonance imaging plus serological follow‐up for early identification of progression in smouldering myeloma patients to prevent development of end‐organ damage

“…29 We considered the fact that in some cases clinical follow-up was longer than wb-MRI and sFLC-ratio assessment might have introduced a bias as described and investigated in Data S1; however, the additional analysis revealed that this had no relevant effect on the results of this study. Availability and cost of wb-MRI is still hindering the largescale application of wb-MRI in many healthcare systems, but over the last decade wb-MRI plays an increasing role across different oncological entities, [38][39][40] and compared to the high costs of modern MM treatment the costs for wb-MRI are comparably low. While heterogeneity in MRI acquisition and interpretation might be considered challenges for wb-MRI, there is an ongoing process of standardization of acquisition and interpretation of wb-MRIs, as for example the recent introduction of the MY-RADS criteria.…”

Radiologic screening and surveillance in hereditary cancers

“…Impediments to widespread WB-MRI implementation include variation in machine protocol and acquisition parameters, radiologist experience in interpretation, and lack of uniform reporting structure. Petralia et al recently published guidelines- Oncologically Relevant Findings Reporting and Data System (ONCO-RADS)-- to address some of these concerns, emphasizing a standard framework for categorizing abnormal findings so that risk stratification for malignancy can be better communicated [15] . For WB-MRI, younger children need to be sedated to ensure images are not degraded by motion artifacts [16] .…”

Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (WB-MRI) for cancer screening: recommendations for use

“…The categorical systems reported showed, however, a high heterogeneity, with four studies using a binary system [ 18 , 25 , 32 , 34 ], four studies a three-category system [ 23 , 30 , 36 , 37 ], three a four-category system [ 19 , 27 , 31 ], one a five-category system [ 24 ]; one last study used a six-category system for both patients with cancer predisposition syndromes and asymptomatic subjects of the general population [ 21 ]. The recently published Oncologically Relevant Findings Reporting and Data System (ONCO-RADS) guidelines [ 57 ] represent a comprehensive effort towards the standardisation of WB-MRI reporting in the setting of cancer screening. These guidelines provide a template for structured reporting, as well as a five-category classification system for data collection and a systematic approach for the communication and management of abnormal findings.…”