Correlation of clinical and MRI staging in cervical carcinoma treated with radiation therapy: a single-center experience

To correlate clinical and MRI findings in patients with cervical carcinoma treated with radiation therapy (RT). Forty-two patients with pretreatment IB-IVA cervical carcinoma were included in this retrospective study. Pre- and post-treatment MRI findings of the patients were reevaluated and compared with clinical staging. Six-month, one-year, and two-year follow-up imaging by MR was performed for 36, 20, and 7 patients, respectively. The correlation between clinical and MRI findings was assessed by a Spearman's rho (rank correlation) test. Univariate analyses were performed to identify the prognostic significance of the tumor volume and lymph node status. Pre-treatment correlations between MRI and clinical findings for diagnoses without parametrial invasion, with parametrial invasion, and with pelvic sidewall invasion were 71.0%, 64.7%, and 15.8%, respectively. According to the Spearman's rho (rank correlation) test, the parametrial invasion correlation was poor (r = 0.410, P < 0.01). The correlation of clinical and MRI findings at 6 months was 88.9% (r = 0.674, P < 0.0001). In advanced cervical cancer, the correlation of clinical and MRI staging prior to neoadjuvant RT was low despite a high correspondence in the assessment of local response after RT.