ABSTRACT
In recent years, the management of patients with carcinoma of the cervix has changed substantially. At the same time, the incidence of endometrial cancer has increased, particularly in older women and often with co-morbidity. Both of these developments have resulted in an increasing reliance on imaging in deciding on appropriate treatment. Several imaging modalities play a role in deciding on appropriate management at the time of presentation as well as in detecting recurrent disease and dealing with complications both of the disease and treatment. Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging has emerged as the most widely used technique in evaluating patients with uterine and cervical cancer. For imaging to be used effectively, however, it is important for the radiologist to understand not only the treatment options that the multidisciplinary team and the patient with uterine cancer are faced with but also the diagnostic performance, advantages, and limitations of each of these imaging modalities. It is worthy of note that the staging classifications for cervical, uterine and vulval carcinoma have recently been changed by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstertrics (FIGO). Diagnostic performance studies evaluating the different imaging modalities that were published prior to 2009 will have been based on the earlier FIGO staging classification.
