Optimized MRI Assessment for Clinically Significant Prostate Cancer: A STARD-Compliant Two-Center Study

There is a requirement for a personalized strategy to make MRI more accessible to men with suspicion of clinically significant prostate cancer (CSPC).

To evaluate an optimized (Op)-MRI compared with biparametric (Bp)-MRI and multiparametric (Mp)-MRI for the diagnosis of CSPC.

Two-center, retrospective.

A total of 346 patients from center 1 and 292 patients from center 2.

3.0T scanners, T₂ -weighted imaging (T₂ WI), diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), and dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) imaging.

Four radiologists interpreted the Bp-MRI (T₂ WI and DWI) and Mp-MRI (T₂ WI, DWI, and DCE) independently according to the Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS). For Op-MRI, two radiologists used an adjusted decision rule on Bp-MRI-assessed PI-RADS 3 lesions by determining early enhancement of DCE. Pathologies at biopsy and/or prostatectomy specimens were used as standard references.

Performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Kappa statistics were used to assess interobserver variability.

Interreader agreement was excellent for all three MRI assessments (all κ values >0.80). Op-MRI had comparable sensitivity (senior/junior: 90.9% [261/287] / 91.6% [263/287]) and higher specificity (78.1% [274/351] /74.4% [261/351]) compared with Mp-MRI (sensitivity: 92.3% [265/287] / 93.7% [269/287]; specificity: 67.8% [238/351] / 68.1% [239/351]) and Bp-MRI (sensitivity: 91.6% [263/287] / 93.4% [268/287]; specificity: 71.2% [250/351] / 70.1% [246/351]) for the diagnosis of CSPC. Compared to Mp-MRI, Op-MRI spared biopsy in 80.7% (515/638) of DCE scans with similar performance accuracy. Compared to Bp-MRI, Op-MRI downgraded 25.2% (31/123) of lesions at a cost of missing 6.5% (3/46) of malignancies, and upgraded 45.5% (56/123) of lesions with a positive predictive value of 62.5% (35/56) in 123 equivocal findings.

The Op-MRI, using an adjusted PI-RADS decision rule, did not compromise diagnostic accuracy with sparing biopsy in 80.7% of DCE scans compared to Mp-MRI, and outperformed Bp-MRI by regrading PI-RADS lesions.

4 TECHNICAL EFFICACY STAGE: 2.