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Big breakthrough in prostate cancer diagnostics?
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in Germany. For a long time medics have been looking for ways to more effective early detection. Researchers have now discovered that with the help of so-called advanced MRI, the diagnosis of prostate cancer is much more reliable and effective.
Researchers at the Medical Research Council's Clinical Trials Unit found that new devices in prostate cancer lead to more successful scans. This way the dangerous disease can be found faster and treated more effectively. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "The Lancet".
The diagnosis of prostate cancer is currently very unreliable. A new type of diagnosis could in the future lead to the disease being more effectively recognized and treated. This could spared many sufferers the unpleasant biopsy. (Image: science photo / fotolia.com) Often an invasive biopsy could be avoided
The experts described the new San devices as the biggest breakthrough in diagnosing prostate cancer in decades. With so-called advanced MRI, the number of detected tumors has almost doubled. The current investigation involved 576 men. More than a quarter of these subjects were able to avoid an invasive biopsy using MRI scans, which can cause serious side effects.
When is a biopsy done??
Although prostate cancer is very common, finding this type of cancer often causes problems. The diagnosis of prostate cancer is far from perfect, the doctors say. When men have high levels of prostate-specific antigens (PSA) in the blood, a biopsy is usually performed. In this case, twelve needles take a sample from the entire prostate, the researchers add.
Biopsy can lead to serious side effects
However, the PSA examination can be faulty and can not properly detect the cancer. Or the biopsy does not recognize that the cancer is aggressive. In addition, the study can cause severe side effects, the researchers explain. These include, for example, bleeding, severe infections and erectile dysfunction.
In the UK, a biopsy is performed annually on up to 120,000 men
Carrying out a random breast biopsy would not be accepted by either physicians or patients, yet such a study on the prostate is approved, study author Dr. Hashim Ahmed. In the UK alone, according to the expert, this type of treatment is passed by about 100,000 to 120,000 men each year.
MRI scan finds 93 percent of cancers
The study used so-called multi-parametric MRI scans in eleven hospitals in patients with high levels of PSA. With this type of treatment, 27 percent of men examined no longer needed biopsy. A total of 93 percent of aggressive cancers were found in patients, the experts add. In comparison, only 48 percent of cases of cancer were detected by biopsy.
The long-term results of the method remain to be seen
It is important to consider the long-term survival after cancers such as prostate cancer, the researchers say. By improving the detection of major cancers, we can significantly impact the likelihood of detecting and surviving such cancers, the authors explain. However, the long-term effects of the new diagnosis can only be analyzed in ten to fifteen years.
Current test system is imperfect
The current test system for prostate cancer is notoriously incomplete. A prostate biopsy is also extremely painful and uncomfortable. "The new scanners are really a big leap forward in diagnosing prostate cancer," Dr. Ahmed.
New type of investigation could massively save costs
The cost of the scans is between £ 350 and £ 450. The cost of a biopsy is 450 pounds. So it is also possible to save money through the skans, if the new type of investigation can avoid unnecessary biopsies, explain the scientists. Early and effective detection of aggressive cancer would also reduce the number of patients with ill health and therefore would save significant treatment costs. (As)