Criteria for radiological assessment of therapy response. Criteria-based appraisal

Oncologic imaging and reporting are an important part of clinical trials and have to be performed according to standardized criteria that clearly define how certain changes in the size and number of tumorous lesions have to be rated. Knowledge of these criteria is not only crucial when interpreting cases for a clinical trial but may also be used as guidelines for everyday clinical reporting as they aid decision making and can increase the validity of radiologic reporting. This article summarizes the most important and frequently used criteria: the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) criteria which are only used in solid malignancies, the Choi criteria that have been designed for the assessment of gastrointestinal stroma tumors (GIST), and the Cheson criteria that are applied to malignant lymphomas. The compilation of these criteria is designed to be used as a repetitorium for experts and can also serve as training guidelines for junior radiologists who want to become involved in clinical trial reporting.