Multiparametric MRI in the diagnosis of prostate cancer - a generational change

Whether a general practitioner (GP) should order prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing for a patient is a question that has been unresolved for 25 years. The authors suggest that the image-based diagnostic pathway, rather than the biopsy-driven diagnostic pathway, will answer this question.

This article describes, in non-technical terms, the methodology of prostate imaging with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI), and targeted biopsies of lesions within the prostate. The benefits and risks of the new technology are discussed.

Accurate anatomical and functional imaging of the prostate gland, and diagnosis of significant (intermediate- and high-risk) prostate cancer, is now becoming available in Australia. However, there is still a learning curve in the implementation of this technology.