Biparametric MRI for Local Staging of Prostate Cancer: Current Status and Future Applications

Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) is the recommended modality for local staging of prostate cancer (PCa). The use of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) imaging alone significantly improves staging performance. However, several studies have revealed that DCE imaging adds no extra benefit for PCa detection. Many authors observed benefits of performing prostate MRI without DCE, so called biparametric MRI (bpMRI), such as the elimination of the toxicity of gadolinium administration, reduction of examination time, costs and better accessibility. This narrative review describes the variety of imaging modalities in Local staging of PCa with bpMRI utilization and its comparison to mpMRI.

A search of medical databases was performed to find eligible articles using the following key words: "prostate cancer", "MRI", "multiparametric", "biparametric" and "staging". MEDLINE, Web of Science, PubMed and Google Scholar were used to search for eligible articles published in the past 5 years and compared the diagnostic accuracy of mpMRI and bp MRI in local staging of PCa.

A total of 48 articles were evaluated. Multiple systematic reviews used pooled data to compare the accuracy of biparametric and multiparametric examinations. However, all these studies advise caution on using pooled data for clinical practice, pointing to multiple sources of heterogeneity among the studies evaluated.

Given the absence of prospective data comparing bpMRI and mpMRI, randomized, prospective, multicenter studies are encouraged. However, mpMRI is the recommended modality for local staging of PCa. It has superior performance compared to traditional staging based on clinical nomograms, and provides additional information on the site and extent of disease.