Multiparametric MRI may not show all prostate cancer lesions or may underestimate their size.
Multiparametric magnetic resonance (MP MR) imaging may miss clinically important lesions in prostate cancer, according to a study published in Radiology.
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, performed a retrospective single-center study to characterize clinically important prostate cancers missed at MP MR imaging. The study included 100 consecutive patients who had undergone MP MR imaging and subsequent radical prostatectomy. A genitourinary pathologist blinded to MP MR findings outlined prostate cancers on whole-mount pathology slices.
The MP MR images were correlated by two readers who were blinded to histopathology results during prospective reading. Eighty clinically unimportant lesions (<5 mm; Gleason score, 3+3) were excluded from the study. The same two readers then retrospectively reviewed cancers missed at MP MR imaging and assigned a Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) version 2 score to better understand false-negative lesion characteristics.
The results showed that of the 162 lesions found, 26 (16%) were missed and 136 (84%) were correctly identified with MP MR imaging. Eight lesions were underestimated for size.
The Gleason scores for the 26 missed lesions were:
• 3+4 in 17 (65%)
• 4+4 in 7 (27%)
• 4+5 in 1 (4%)
Retrospective PI-RADS version 2 scores were:
• PI-RADS 1, n = 8
• PI-RADS 2, n = 7
• PI-RADS 3, n = 6
• PI-RADS 4, n = 5
The MP MR imaging did depict clinically important prostate cancer in 99 of 100 patients, but at least one clinically important tumor was missed in 26 (26%) patients, and lesion size was underestimated in eight (8%).
The researchers concluded that clinically important lesions can be missed or their size can be underestimated at MP MR imaging.
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