Thousands of men could avoid painful invasive prostate cancer tests thanks to a new scan
The MRI technique works in just over a quarter of cases, a University College London study has found
THOUSANDS of men could avoid painful invasive cancer tests thanks to a new prostate scan.
The MRI technique works in just over a quarter of cases, a study has found.
It means 28,000 of the 100,000 UK men who undergo biopsies every year could be spared the procedure — which involves random samples of tissue being removed for analysis.
The MRI scan is also 12 per cent better at picking up deadly tumours and 13 per cent less likely to flag up a harmless cancer as needing treatment.
Patients will be scanned first to highlight danger areas.
If nothing is spotted they will continued to be monitored but not have an immediate biopsy.
If a tumour is found, a biopsy will still need to be carried out to confirm the diagnosis, but the MRI scan will help medics target the right tissue for tests.
Experts say adopting the approach across the NHS would save cash — a biopsy costs the NHS around £370 — and lives via earlier diagnosis.
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University College London’s Dr Veeru Kasivisvanathan, lead researcher of the trial involving 500 men, said: “This is potentially a game-changer. In the long-term we expect to see better survival.”
In the UK there are 47,000 new cases of prostate cancer a year, with 11,000 men dying.
Karen Stalbow, of Prostate Cancer UK, said: “For too long men have had to endure a stab-in-the-dark biopsy technique, which can miss one in four harmful prostate cancers.”