Magnetic resonance imaging in prostate cancer

With the recently published National Institute of Clinical Excellence guidelines, it is now generally accepted that magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the imaging method of choice for staging prostate cancer in patients for whom radical treatment is being considered. MRI offers the single most accurate assessment of local disease and regional metastatic spread. As well as detecting extraprostatic extension, this technique can locate the site of intraprostatic disease, which may prove useful in planning disease-targeting therapies currently being developed. However, numerous studies have reported widely varying accuracies indicating that MRI is not the perfect imaging modality; microscopic and early macroscopic invasion cannot be reliably shown using current technology. The role of MRI including advantages, limitations and future developments will be discussed.