MRI scans could help one in four men with suspected prostate cancer avoid biopsy

Using multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in men with raised prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels could enable one in four to avoid having a biopsy and could reduce overdiagnosis of prostate cancer, a study validating this scanning technique against the most accurate reference test has shown.1 Men presenting with an elevated PSA level currently undergo transrectal ultrasound guided biopsy to check for prostate cancer. However, the PSA test is not always indicative of prostate cancer, so some of the 100 000 prostate biopsies in the UK each year are unnecessary. This biopsy …