Role of MRI in assisting in the detection of prostate cancer
June 14th, 2009 Posted in prostate cancer diagnosisIn a recent review a urologist team highlights the important role of MRI in assisting in the detection of prostate cancer (CaP) in men with previous negative biopsies and elevated prostate-specific antigen levels.
According to urologists opinion the key clinical question is how many men benefit by having had prostate cancer detected purely because of the MRI-targeted, as opposed to standard scheme, biopsies.
The review concludes that MRI remains sensitive only to larger tumours but is currently useful for selected groups: those men with prior negative biopsy or where a discordant PSA exists in the context of low volume disease, staging particularly where T3 disease is suspected and choosing candidates for focal therapy. With the development of 3T MRI scanners and new MRI sequences and parameters being better understood (e.g. DWI, when to use contrast, spectroscopy etc) the future for MRI in Cap is exciting and is likely to be important.