MRI Detects Bone Marrow Cancer

Bone marrow cancer can be diagnosed effectively with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), according to new study. Bone marrow cancer (myelofibrosis) is a slowly evolving condition hallmarked by increased myeloid cells, and, in the case of primary myelofibrosis, an excessive number of large cells called megakaryocytes. The pathology is also characterized by structural abnormality of the bone marrow matrix, which at end-stage manifests in excessive deposition of reticulin fibers and cross linked collagen in the bone marrow, suppression of normal blood cell development and bone marrow failure. Currently, the diagnosis is made through an invasive biopsy and histopathology. Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) in the US tested an approach using a T2-weighted MRI, one of the basic pulse sequences in MRI, through which they could detect a pre-fibrotic state of the disease. It is intriguing to speculate that future pre-biopsy MRI of the human pathology might guide, in some cases, decisions on if and where to biopsy.