Give men scans to spot prostate cancer, say doctors
MRI scans on men with suspected prostate cancer could cut the number of invasive biopsies – and help identify more cancers, researchers say.
Men with suspected prostate cancer are offered a biopsy – small samples of tissue being taken from the prostate and analysed.
But a study found that if men are offered an MRI scan first, this could reduce the number of biopsies by 28 per cent and flag up more cancers.
Experts say one million men across Europe currently undergo a biopsy every year.
The study, led by a team from University College London, saw researchers randomly allocate 500 men with suspected prostate cancer to be examined with a standard biopsy or an initial MRI scan followed by a targeted biopsy if the MRI showed an abnormality.
The Precision Trial, published in the New England Journal Of Medicine, found that 71 (28 per cent) of the 252 men in the MRI arm of the study avoided the need for a subsequent biopsy.
Of those who needed a biopsy, the researchers detected clinically significant cancer in 95 (38 per cent) of the 252 men, compared to 64 (26 per cent) of the 248 men who received only the biopsy.
First author of the study, Dr Veeru Kasivisvanathan, from the UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, said: “Precision shows that using an MRI to identify suspected cancer in the prostate and performing a prostate biopsy targeted to the MRI information, leads to more cancers being diagnosed than the standard way…of the last 25 years.”
Karen Stalbow, of charity Prostate Cancer UK, said the biopsy technique can miss one in four harmful prostate cancers.
“It is now more important than ever that all men with suspected prostate cancer get a scan before biopsy.
“This will not only reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies for men with no or low-grade cancer, but ensure those with more harmful types will benefit from a much more targeted approach, reducing the chances cancer is missed.”
In the UK, there are more than 46,000 new cases of prostate cancer every year, leading to more than 11,000 deaths.