Study: MRI Missed 1 in 6 High-Grade Prostate Cancers.
The much ballyhooed multiparametric (mp) MRI does not appear to be suited as stand-alone test for diagnosing prostate cancer after an elevated PSA, according to new research.
The expensive and powerful technology failed to identify 16% of men with high-grade cancer (Gleason score ≥7) in a prospective study of 1044 men with an elevated PSA.
This study looked at patients who had negative MRI searching for prostate cancer. It found that the MRI missed almost half of all prostate cancers, but more importantly, missed 1 in 6 moderately aggressive cancers which are the ones that most need treatment.
I have been using MRI as a tool to help stratify the risk of prostate cancer, but I do not rely solely on the MRI results.
Mist worrisome to me is that at some place, radiologists are the only specialists trying to diagnose prostate cancer.
In my opinion, MRIs are useful, as our are radiology colleagues in helping to read the MRIs, but this should be done with the leadership of a urologist.