Diffusion weighted MR can accurately identify benign from malignant pelvic lymph nodes in patients with gynecologic malignancy, according to a study performed at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA.

Recurrent and metastatic endometrial and ovarian cancers can be notoriously difficult to treat: They have spread to other organs and typically have developed resistance to chemotherapy; and patients already heavily treated with chemotherapy may not be able to endure more chemo.

In North America, ovarian cancer is the second most common gynecological cancer and is the leading cause of death among women with gynecological cancer. The high mortality is in part due to the difficulty of detecting and diagnosing this condition at an early stage.