MRI-Targeted Superior to Standard Biopsy for Prostate-Cancer Diagnosis

An international, multicenter, randomized trial concluded that the use of risk assessment with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and MRI-targeted biopsy was superior to standard transrectal ultrasonography–guided biopsy for prostate-cancer detection in men with a raised prostate-specific antigen level who had not undergone biopsy. A total of 500 men underwent randomization. In the MRI-targeted biopsy group, 71 of 252 men (28%) had MRI results that were not suggestive of prostate cancer, and avoided a biopsy. Clinically significant cancer was detected in 95 men (38%) in the MRI-targeted biopsy group, as compared with 64 of 248 (26%) in the standard-biopsy group (adjusted difference, 12 percentage points; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4 to 20; P=0.005). MRI, with or without targeted biopsy, was noninferior to standard biopsy, and the 95% confidence interval indicated the superiority of this strategy over standard biopsy. Fewer men in the MRI-targeted biopsy group than in the standard-biopsy group received a diagnosis of clinically insignificant cancer (adjusted difference, −13 percentage points; 95% CI, −19 to −7; P<0.001). Source: http://www.nejm.org/