# Node-RADS (lymph node reporting system)

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/node-rads/  
OnCo record `node-rads` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Node-RADS scores each lymph node on a CT or MRI scan from 1, very unlikely to contain cancer, to 5, very likely, using its size and shape.

## Summary

Node-RADS 1.0 (Elsholtz and colleagues, European Radiology 2021) addresses the lack of agreement on how radiologists judge whether a lymph node holds cancer. It combines two scored features, size and configuration, into an assessment from 1 (very low likelihood) to 5 (very high likelihood). It can be used at any anatomical site, for regional and distant nodes, on CT and MRI, at first staging and when assessing response.

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Also known as: Node-RADS; Node Reporting and Data System

## Sources

- Elsholtz et al., Introducing the Node Reporting and Data System 1.0 (Node-RADS) (Eur Radiol 2021): https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-020-07572-4

## Connected records

- terms: [Lymph node](https://onco.cc/terms/lymph-node/), [Lymph node status (node-positive / node-negative)](https://onco.cc/terms/lymph-node-status/), [NI-RADS (Neck Imaging Reporting and Data System)](https://onco.cc/terms/ni-rads/), [PI-RADS (Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System)](https://onco.cc/terms/pi-rads/)
- technologies: [CT (computed tomography)](https://onco.cc/technologies/ct/), [MRI](https://onco.cc/technologies/mri/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/node-rads.json