Yes, a lumbar spine MRI can show cancer. An MRI will note the size, location and some descriptors which assist the physicians to characterize as benign or malignant.
Lumbar Spine MRI?
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses powerful radio waves and high magnetic fields to produce images of the body’s soft tissue, organs, muscles and functions in detail. A lumbar spine MRI is an MRI of the lower part of the spine, which includes
How MRI Detects Cancer in the Lumbar Spine?
MRI provides images of the spinal bones, spinal cord, nerve roots and surrounding soft tissues with such quality that enables radiologists to identify abnormal conditions of the lumbar spine such as Malignant osseous disease (cancerous lesions in bone) Epidural disease (cancerous lesion in the area surrounding the spinal cord) Leptomeningeal disease (cancerous lesion impinging the coverings of the spinal cord) Intramedullary lesions (tumors invading the spinal cord) During the process they may also find pathological fractures due to cancer that has weakened the bone.
Diagnostic Accuracy
According to study and meta-analysis results, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) demonstrates the greatest diagnostic accuracies for diagnosing spinal metastases compared with other modalities of imaging (CT, PET/CT, bone scintigraphy, SPECT) as well. Pooled results indicate that MRI has an average sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 85% at the patient level, and is considered to be slightly better at the lesion level. Therefore, MRI is not only effective at identifying the presence of cancer lesions, but it is also effective in identifying areas of interest that are non-cancerous.
For patients with a history of cancer, MRI is especially useful for those with acute or chronic back pain; the emergence or worsening of back pain may be due to spinal metastases or a primary spinal tumor. In a large cohort of cancer patients with back pain, at least one cancer-related finding was found on 52% of their spine MRIs and malignant bone disease was the most common finding. Furthermore, in this cohort these findings were often new or progressive. Therefore, MRI is an essential part of ongoing management of patients with a personal history of cancer.
Limitations and Considerations
While MRI is an extremely sensitive, specific technique, accuracy may be influenced by factors including the cancer type, lesion size, lesion location, and patient symptoms. Blastic lesions (many prostate cancers) and lytic lesions (many breast or lung cancers) will have different appearances in MRI or other imaging modalities, for example. Symptom information can further improve the accuracy of the diagnostic evaluation when passed along to the radiologist.
MRI examination should always be intuitively performed by a qualified radiologist, preferably with the patient’s clinical history, including previous imaging, available. There will always be instances when false positives and nonspecific findings are present, especially when imaging is performed without clinical context
Conclusion
MRI of the lumbar spine is a strong imaging modality for diagnosis of spine cancer, especially with respect to metastatic disease. Its higher specificity and sensitivity make it an essential and decisive exam for evaluating the cancer patient with back pain or neurological deficits. MRI findings must be evaluated alongside the clinical information for the best assessment of the diagnosis.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Is lower back cancer curable?
Although a total cure for cancer of the lower back; whether primary spinal tumors or metastatic cancer that spreads to the spine is not always possible, treatments can have a positive impact on quality of life with the possibility of remission.
Q. Can you see cancer on lumbar spine MRI?
Absolutely, a lumbar spine MRI can identify cancer. It is a good way to diagnose primary tumors of the spine, as well as tumors that have metastasized to the spine from another area of the body.
Q. What are the signs of a tumor on the spine?
Common signs include: back pain that is worse at night, back pain that is worse with activity.
Q. Lower back cancer curable?
Lower back cancer (spinal cancer or vertebral cancer) is curable- depending on the cancer type, the cancer stage, and health of the individual. Some spinal cancers are primary (originating in the spine), and others are metastatic (originating elsewhere in the body).
Q. Where to get the best MRI scan of the brain?
You can opt for carebox, to get your MRI scan of brain done.
