Dr Thompson, together with Dr Suresh De Silva (MRI radiologist), Dr Kathleen Lockhart (Urology registrar) and the research team at St George Hospital Urology, have just published the results of their research study into MRI for kidney cancer, in the Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology (JMIRO) in August 2020.
here is a link to the study:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1754-9485.13082
They performed a special type of MRI called chemical-shift imaging in 73 men and women whom presented with incidental lumps on their kidney, suspicious for cancer. They then compared the MRI against the results of subsequent biopsy or removal of the lump.
This new MRI scan enabled the team to identify which lumps contained microscopic particles of fat, which are too small to be visible to the naked eye on scans. Knowing which rumours contain these tiny fat particles helps in working out which ones are cancerous requiring removal, and which ones are benign and harmless, thus requiring no treatment:
This new type of microscopic fat analysis improved the accuracy of MRI for differentiating benign from cancerous lumps and thus will improve the accuracy of diagnosis and selection for treatment in future men and women presenting with incidental kidney lumps.
Dr Thompson, Dr De Silva, Dr Lockhart, Dr Aslan, Dr McLean and the team are also investigating other forms of new cutting edge MRI imaging, with another study of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI-ADC) currently under peer review in a major international journal.
the study link again is:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1754-9485.13082