{"entity":{"id":"whole-body-mri","kind":"technology","name":"Whole-body MRI","aka":[],"tldr":"Whole-body MRI is an MRI of the entire body without radiation, used to find spread in myeloma and to screen people with high inherited cancer risk.","summary":"Whole-body MRI acquires multiple stations of MRI, including diffusion-weighted imaging, and stitches them into a single view of the entire body without radiation. It is standard in multiple myeloma under IMWG criteria because of its sensitivity to bone marrow disease, and for surveillance in Li-Fraumeni syndrome, where the absence of radiation matters for people scanned for life. It is being evaluated for response assessment in metastatic prostate and breast cancer through the MET-RADS framework, since bone metastases are hard to measure on CT. Strengths are repeatability and marrow sensitivity; the main limitations are long scan times and incidental findings in screening use. Commercial 'full-body scan' services for average-risk people are controversial for that reason. It is a radiation-free scan of the whole body, most valuable in myeloma and in people with high inherited cancer risk.","status":"established","asOf":"2026-09-04","links":[{"label":"NICE NG35: myeloma diagnosis and management (whole-body MRI as first-line imaging)","url":"https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng35"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["multiple-myeloma","prostate"],"sections":["imaging","early-detection"],"technologies":["mri"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":["adialante"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["nct01883128","nct02814968","nct02815033"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"Multi-station MRI with diffusion-weighted imaging stitched into a whole-body view.","strengths":["No radiation, so repeatable","Bone marrow sensitivity"],"limitations":["Long scan","Incidental findings in screening use"]},"route":"/technologies/whole-body-mri/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"multiple-myeloma","kind":"cancer","name":"Multiple myeloma","route":"/cancers/multiple-myeloma/"},{"id":"myeloma-transplant-eligible","kind":"cancer","name":"Newly diagnosed multiple myeloma, transplant-eligible","route":"/cancers/myeloma-transplant-eligible/"},{"id":"prostate","kind":"cancer","name":"Prostate cancer","route":"/cancers/prostate/"},{"id":"smouldering-myeloma","kind":"cancer","name":"Smouldering multiple myeloma","route":"/cancers/smouldering-myeloma/"}],"section":[{"id":"early-detection","kind":"section","name":"Early Detection & Screening","route":"/fronts/early-detection/"},{"id":"imaging","kind":"section","name":"Imaging","route":"/fronts/imaging/"}],"technology":[{"id":"breast-mri-coils-abbreviated-mri","kind":"technology","name":"Breast MRI coils and abbreviated breast MRI","route":"/technologies/breast-mri-coils-abbreviated-mri/"},{"id":"mri","kind":"technology","name":"MRI","route":"/technologies/mri/"},{"id":"mri-field-strengths","kind":"technology","name":"MRI field strengths: 1.5 T, 3 T and 7 T","route":"/technologies/mri-field-strengths/"},{"id":"total-body-pet-screening","kind":"technology","name":"Total-body PET for screening and ultra-low-dose imaging","route":"/technologies/total-body-pet-screening/"}],"company":[{"id":"adialante","kind":"company","name":"Adialante","route":"/companies/adialante/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct01883128","kind":"trial","name":"FOcal RECurrent Assessment and Salvage Treatment","route":"/trials/nct01883128/"},{"id":"nct02815033","kind":"trial","name":"Imaging Staging and Response Prediction in Metastatic Hormono-Sensitive Prostate Cancer Patients Receiving Enzalutamide","route":"/trials/nct02815033/"},{"id":"nct02814968","kind":"trial","name":"PET/CT and WB MRI for Staging and Response in CRPC Patients Receiving Enzalutamide","route":"/trials/nct02814968/"}],"roadmap":[{"id":"early-detection-roadmap","kind":"roadmap","name":"Early detection roadmap: organ screening → blood tests for many cancers","route":"/roadmaps/early-detection-roadmap/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-metastasis-biology","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Metastasis is understood least and studied last","route":"/bottlenecks/b-metastasis-biology/"}],"idea":[{"id":"idea-prev-mced-positive-resolution-pathway","kind":"idea","name":"A 28-day national pathway for people with a positive multi-cancer blood test","route":"/ideas/idea-prev-mced-positive-resolution-pathway/"},{"id":"idea-moon-population-interception","kind":"idea","name":"A whole-population cancer interception programme: risk-stratify every adult, detect and intercept early","route":"/ideas/idea-moon-population-interception/"},{"id":"idea-bio1-clone-to-lesion-mapping","kind":"idea","name":"Match each blood-detected clone to the lesion it comes from on the scan","route":"/ideas/idea-bio1-clone-to-lesion-mapping/"},{"id":"idea-fund-brain-metastases-programme","kind":"idea","name":"Treat brain metastases as a disease with its own trials programme","route":"/ideas/idea-fund-brain-metastases-programme/"},{"id":"idea-bio2-localise-the-mrd","kind":"idea","name":"When the blood test is positive, hunt for the lesion with sensitive imaging","route":"/ideas/idea-bio2-localise-the-mrd/"},{"id":"idea-prev-li-fraumeni-mri-plus-cfdna","kind":"idea","name":"Whole-body MRI plus blood DNA surveillance for people with Li-Fraumeni syndrome","route":"/ideas/idea-prev-li-fraumeni-mri-plus-cfdna/"}],"term":[{"id":"early-detection-term","kind":"term","name":"Early detection","route":"/terms/early-detection-term/"},{"id":"hereditary-cancer-syndromes","kind":"term","name":"Hereditary cancer syndromes","route":"/terms/hereditary-cancer-syndromes/"},{"id":"li-fraumeni","kind":"term","name":"Li-Fraumeni syndrome (germline TP53)","route":"/terms/li-fraumeni/"}],"institution":[{"id":"sickkids","kind":"institution","name":"The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids)","route":"/institutions/sickkids/"}],"pathway":[{"id":"organ-tropism-seed-soil","kind":"pathway","name":"Organ tropism: seed and soil","route":"/pathways/organ-tropism-seed-soil/"}]}}