Early detection, diagnosis, and effective treatment markedly improves the 5-year survival rate of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) .Initiation of the multi-step hepatocarcinogenesis process often involves a cirrhotic nodule.After the regenerative nodule develops into a dysplastic nodule (DN) , it continues to advance from a low degree DN to a high degree DN.The high degree DN may then further develop to early HCC/small HCC or even progressed/advanced HCC.Previous studies have shown that endogenous iron within the nodule can inhibit or resolve the hepatocarcinogenic process.This review discusses the clinical utility of magnetic resonance (MR) susceptibility-weighted imaging for detecting and monitoring changes in nodular iron and the implications of this technology when combined with T2WI, diffusion weighted imaging, and dynamic contrast enhancement for improving clinical decision-making, thereby enhancing diagnostic efficacy for early HCC/small HCC in the cirrhotic background.
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