Prostate biopsies could be avoidable with MRIs

PARIS: A quarter of men suspected of having prostate cancer could avoid invasive and potentially dangerous biopsies with the help of MRI scans, researchers reported yesterday.

Magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI) could also reduce the number of men over- diagnosed with the disease by five per cent, they detailed in a study published in The Lancet.

The new approach is potentially a game- changer, experts commenting on the study said.

In the case of prostate cancer, “over- diagnosed” includes relatively benign cancers that do not cause any harm during a man’s lifetime.

“Prostate cancer has aggressive and harmless forms,” noted lead author Hashim Ahmed, a surgeon at University College London’s faculty of medicine.

Typically, men undergo a prostate biopsy if they experience certain symptoms or show high levels of a protein in their blood, as detected by a prostate specific antigen ( PSA) test.

Each year, over a million prostate biopsies are done in Europe alone.

The procedure — which can cause bleeding, pain and serious infections — involves using a biopsy needle to draw a tissue sample through a small cut made between the anus and scrotum.

The needle goes in ‘ blind’, and can thus bypass a cancerous mass.

“Our current biopsy test can be inaccurate because the tissue samples are taken at random,” Ahmed said in a statement. “It can miss aggressive cancers that are actually there.” — AFP