Enhanced MRI Improves Prostate Cancer Imaging

Enhanced MRI diffusion with restriction spectrum imaging (RSI-MRI) shows promise for substantially improving prostate cancer imaging, according to a study published in the journal Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Disease.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and the University of California, Los Angeles, developed a novel, enhanced MRI diffusion technique using restriction spectrum imaging and compared its efficacy with standard MRI for detecting extraprostatic extension (EPE).

Twenty-seven patients with prostate cancer who underwent MRI and RSI-MRI prior to radical prostatectomy were evaluated. Ten patients had histologically proven pT3 disease.[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_crop","fid":"30855","attributes":{"alt":"Rebecca Rakow-Penner, MD, PhD","class":"media-image media-image-right","id":"media_crop_6210645127716","media_crop_h":"0","media_crop_image_style":"-1","media_crop_instance":"3242","media_crop_rotate":"0","media_crop_scale_h":"0","media_crop_scale_w":"0","media_crop_w":"0","media_crop_x":"0","media_crop_y":"0","style":"border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 1px; float: right;","title":"Rebecca Rakow-Penner, MD, PhD","typeof":"foaf:Image"}}]]

The results showed that the standard preoperative MRI correctly identified extraprostatic extension in two patients (22%) of the nine with pT2. The RSI-MRI identified EPE in eight of the nine patients (89%), and the technique also correctly identified pT2 disease in the remaining 18 patients.

"This new approach is a more reliable imaging technique for localizing tumors. It provides a better target for biopsies, especially for smaller tumors," first author Rebecca Rakow-Penner, MD, PhD, research resident in the Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, said in a release.

The researchers concluded that although more research is needed, their RSI-MRI technology was feasible and showed promise in imaging for prostate cancer.