Cancer imaging is the application of medical imaging to detect, characterise, stage, and monitor malignant disease. It serves several distinct clinical purposes: identifying suspicious lesions, distinguishing benign from malignant tissue, defining the anatomical extent of a tumour and its spread to lymph nodes and d…
Cancer imaging is the application of medical imaging to detect, characterise, stage, and monitor malignant disease. It serves several distinct clinical purposes: identifying suspicious lesions, distinguishing benign from malignant tissue, defining the anatomical extent of a tumour and its spread to lymph nodes and distant sites, guiding biopsy and treatment delivery, and assessing response to therapy and detecting recurrence. The principal modalities exploit different physical contrast mechanisms. Computed tomography provides high-resolution anatomical detail; magnetic resonance imaging offers superior soft-tissue contrast and functional sequences; ultrasonography gives real-time, accessible assessment of superficial and abdominal structures; and nuclear medicine techniques, including positron-emission tomography combined with computed tomography, map tumour metabolism and molecular targets using radiotracers. Molecular and metabolic imaging extends this further by visualising specific biochemical pathways, supporting diagnosis and the emerging goals of personalised oncology. Imaging also underpins radiotherapy planning, where three-dimensional and image-guided techniques improve the precision of dose delivery. Interpretation requires correlation with histopathology and clinical findings, because imaging features may overlap between tumour types and benign mimics. Continuing developments emphasise quantitative analysis, multimodal integration, and biomarkers of treatment response, with the broad aim of earlier detection, more accurate staging, and individualised therapeutic decisions.
7 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 7 articles above have been cited 15 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Cancer Imaging, linking to each citing work.