Tumor volume or dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI for prediction of clinical outcome of Ewing sarcoma family of tumors

Backgrond. The identification of risk factors that predict poor clinical ou tcome at the time of diagnosis could lead to intensified early therapy and improved outcome for pediatric patients with Ewing sarcoma family of tumors (ESFT). Objective. To compare the effectiveness of static magnetic resonance (MR) i maging measurements of tumor volume with variables obtained by dynamic cont rast-enhanced MR imaging (DEMRI) in predicting ESFT outcome. Methods. MR examinations that included DEMRI were retrospectively reviewed. The analyses included 45 examinations of 21 patients with ESFT (performed from 1992 to 1996), Tumor volumes were measured on the static MR images, an d the regions of interest were selected for DEMRI analysis, The relationshi ps of static MR imaging and DEMRI variables with the probability of progres sion-free survival (PFS) and disease-fret: survival (DFS) were determined. Results, Larger tumor volume at the time of diagnosis predicted poorer PFS and DFS estimates. No DEMRI variable predicted outcome. Conclusion. Determination of tumor volume by static MR imaging at the time of diagnosis is a simple and reliable method of predicting the clinical out come of patients with ESFT. DEMRI is not as reliable a technique as static MR imaging for predicting the outcome of these patients.