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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Radiol. Jan 28, 2015; 7(1): 7-16
Published online Jan 28, 2015. doi: 10.4329/wjr.v7.i1.7
Conventional radiological strategy of common gastrointestinal neoplasms
Yi-Zhuo Li, Pei-Hong Wu
Yi-Zhuo Li, Pei-Hong Wu, Imaging Diagnosis and Interventional Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China
Author contributions: Li YZ and Wu PH both contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicting interests, commercial, personal, political, intellectual or religious.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Pei-Hong Wu, MD, Imaging Diagnosis and Interventional Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in Southern China, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, 651 Dongfeng Road East, Guangzhou 510060, Guangdong Province, China. wupeihong56@126.com
Telephone: +86-20-87343272 Fax: +86-20-87343272
Received: May 18, 2014
Peer-review started: May 19, 2014
First decision: June 27, 2014
Revised: November 21, 2014
Accepted: December 3, 2014
Article in press: December 10, 2014
Published online: January 28, 2015
Processing time: 239 Days and 23.1 Hours
Abstract

This article summarizes the clinical characteristics and imaging features of common gastrointestinal (GI) neoplasms in terms of conventional radiological imaging methods. Barium studies are readily available for displaying primary malignancies and are minimally or not at all invasive. A neoplasm may be manifested as various imaging findings, including mucosal disruption, soft mass, ulcer, submucosal invasion and lumen stenosis on barium studies. Benign tumors typically appear as smoothly marginated intramural masses. Malignant neoplasms most often appear as irregular infiltrative lesions on barium examination. Tumor extension to adjacent GI segments may be indistinct on barium images. Cross-sectional images such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging may provide more accurate details of the adjacent organ invasion, omental or peritoneal spread.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal; Barium enema; Computed tomography; Magnetic resonance imaging; Neoplasm

Core tip: Gastrointestinal neoplasms are very common diseases. A neoplasm may be manifested as a wide spectrum of imaging findings. Barium studies are readily available for displaying primary malignancies in a short time and at low cost. Malignant neoplasms most often appear as irregular infiltrative lesions on barium examination. Cross-sectional imaging such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging may provide more accurate details of the adjacent organ invasion, omental or peritoneal spread.