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Topics:
Radiation Oncology • Thoracic Malignancies
Do you routinely order a thoracic or brachial plexus MRI for patients with apical lung cancers?
Would you consider this standard in asymptomatic patients for workup and treatment planning? Or do you reserve MRI for symptomatic patients only?
Answer from: Radiation Oncologist at Academic Institution
For patients with superior sulcus tumors (or apical lung tumors), their clinical presentation usually drives the choices of imaging modality. In my experience, if a patient has an apical tumor and presents with no symptoms at all, then I would not see the utility or need to require MRI imaging, unle...
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Answer from: Medical Oncologist at Community Practice
Yes. Superior sulcus malignancies, by definition, are either clinical T3 (invading the chest wall) or T4 (invading mediastinal structures, including the vertebrae and brachial plexus). Therefore, an MRI of the thoracic inlet is a standard recommendation in the evaluation of all such patients at the ...