Feasibility of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Fusion With Pretreatment MR/CT for Recurrence Detection in Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients During Post-Ablation Surveillance.

Authors

• Aylin Tahmasebi
• Tania Siu Xiao
• Corinne E Wessner
• Cristina M Kuon Yeng Escalante
• Andrej Lyshchik
• Flemming Forsberg
• Ji-Bin Liu
• Christopher G Roth
• Shuchi K Rodgers
• Leann M Kania
• Kevin Anton
• Anju Yadav
• Costas D Lallas
• Stephen R Topper
• Edouard J Trabulsi
• John R Eisenbrey

Publication/Presentation Date

8-1-2025

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) is a cost-effective, safe, and accurate modality for monitoring renal cell carcinoma (RCC) recurrence following percutaneous ablation. However, ultrasound delineation of treated tumor borders can be challenging post-ablation. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of using post-treatment CEUS fused to preablation MR/CT to detect RCC recurrence during long term follow up.

METHODS: This study was performed as part of a larger ongoing prospective clinical trial for patients with biopsy-proven RCC treated with percutaneous ablation and receiving contrast enhanced (CE) -CT or -MRI for treatment response monitoring. CEUS with preablation CT/MR fusion was performed within 4 weeks of recurrence screening, and CE-CT/MRI was used as the reference standard. After intravenous injection of an ultrasound contrast agent, CEUS imaging of a single target lesion was performed with ultrasound fused to the patient's pretreatment CT or MRI. RCC recurrence was diagnosed at the bedside based on the presence of iso- to hyper-enhancement within the margins of the ablation cavity compared to normal renal parenchyma.

RESULTS: To date, 50 participants have been recruited (76% male and 24% female). All participants tolerated the contrast injections without adverse events. CEUS was successfully fused to the participant's pretreatment cross-sectional imaging in all cases and was found to aid in the delineation of the original treatment zone. Additionally, CEUS correlated perfectly (100% agreement) with CE-CT/MRI findings for all the participants.

CONCLUSION: Preliminary results demonstrate that post-treatment CEUS fused with a pretreatment CT/MRI is feasible and may aid in the correct localization of the treated tumor margins during long-term post-ablation monitoring.

Volume

51

Issue

8

First Page

1336

Last Page

1342

ISSN

1879-291X

Published In/Presented At

Tahmasebi, A., Siu Xiao, T., Wessner, C. E., Kuon Yeng Escalante, C. M., Lyshchik, A., Forsberg, F., Liu, J. B., Roth, C. G., Rodgers, S. K., Kania, L. M., Anton, K., Yadav, A., Lallas, C. D., Topper, S. R., Trabulsi, E. J., & Eisenbrey, J. R. (2025). Feasibility of Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Fusion With Pretreatment MR/CT for Recurrence Detection in Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients During Post-Ablation Surveillance. Ultrasound in medicine & biology, 51(8), 1336–1342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultrasmedbio.2025.04.021

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

40436663

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article