Rectal Cancer: Staging.

The imaging of rectal cancer has evolved noticeably over the past 2 decades, paralleling the advances in therapy. The methods for imaging rectal cancer are increasingly used in clinical practice with the purpose of helping to detect, characterize and stage rectal cancer. In this setting, MR imaging emerged as the most useful imaging method for primary staging of rectal cancer; the present review focuses on the role of MR imaging in this regard.