Abdominal Ultrasonography After Transrectal Filling With Contrast Agent (
AU
‐
TFCA
) for the T Staging of Colon Cancer
Tie Zhou, Chenxi Cai, Zili Zhang, Cheng Sun, Yanmin Kan, Jianmin Ding, Xiang Jing ABSTRACT
Purpose
To evaluate the diagnostic value of abdominal ultrasonography after transrectal filling with contrast agent (AU‐TFCA) in the local T staging of colon cancer.
Methods
This retrospective study included patients diagnosed with colon cancer at Tianjin Third Central Hospital between April 2022 and July 2023.
Results
Eighty‐six patients (mean age 68.5 ± 9.5; 49 men) were included. The number of patients in stages T1–T4 based on pathological results was 3, 6, 64, and 13, respectively. Kappa agreement: AU‐TFCA versus pathology, T3‐4 = 0.585, T4 = 0.793; CECT versus pathology, T3‐4 = 0.481, T4 = 0.429. ROC using lesion maximum diameter yielded optimal cutoffs of 3.35 and 4.45. AUC = 0.777 and AUC = 0.807. For detecting T3‐4: sensitivity 0.779, specificity 0.778, accuracy 0.779. For T4: sensitivity 0.846, specificity 0.699, accuracy 0.721.
Conclusions
AU‐TFCA might have higher sensitivity and specificity in preoperative T staging of colon cancer. AU‐TFCA might be a valuable tool for colon cancer preoperative T staging, with a better correlation with pathology for T staging than CECT. Still, results require confirmation due to the small number of early‐stage cases and the possibility of selection bias.