New MRI-Guided Biopsy Leads to Faster, Better Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
Conventional needle prostate biopsies needed to diagnose prostate cancer look almost haphazard and less conclusive compared with new procedures assisted by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology. How does this improved procedure lead to better diagnosis and treatment for potential prostate cancer patients?
Oncology centers are very careful about prostate cancer treatments, and will not commit to a treatment regimen unless the cancer is confirmed. Combined with the somewhat random nature of conventional needle biopsy for prostate cancer, in some cases, the disease has to grow unchecked before a positive diagnosis can be confirmed, according to Deseret News.
Dr. Jonathan Tward, radiation oncologist at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, puts it simply. "We won't treat a patient unless we have a pathologic diagnosis," Dr. Tward said. "We just thought we were watching it grow in a patient when we could be treating it." Tward continued, expressing frustration as the three painful biopsies endured by Mr. Tanzer, his patient, yielded negative results.
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"I was virtually certain Mr. Tanzer had prostate cancer ... It is possible that Mr. Tanzer's life was being jeopardized by delaying treatment because of the inefficiencies of diagnosis," Tward explained. Up to 30 percent of traditional biopsies come up as a false negative, research shows.
New MRI-guided prostate biopsy technology, however, now greatly improves on this rate. Compared with the 12 or 14 needles that need to be "blindly placed" to target a prostate tumor in the pelvis, the new technology needs as few as one or two needles that the imaging technique can aim directly at the suspected cancerous lesion.
Dr. Tward is happy with the fewer number of needles needed, on top of the greatly improved accuracy. "Every time you stick a needle into the prostate, you run the risk that the person might end up with sexual dysfunction, urinary dysfunction or bowel dysfunction," Tward said, something that his patient no longer has to endure now that Tanzer's cancer has been positively identified and treated with the help of the new technology.
