MRI screening for prostate cancer could help to reduce deaths ‘significantly’, researchers have suggested.
The 10-minute scans are ‘more reliable’ than the current blood tests, which look for high levels of the the protein prostate-specific antigen (PSA).
PSA testing has been linked to over-diagnosis and over-treatment of low-risk diseases, scientists have said.
The MRI screenings even picked up serious cancers which were completely missed by the current form of testing.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in men and those aged over 50 can request a PSA test if they are experiencing symptoms.
There is no national screening programme because PSA testing is considered too unreliable.
The Reimagine study invited 303 men aged between 50 and 75 to have a screening MRI and a PSA test.
Of the total, 16% had an MRI that indicated the presence of prostate cancer despite having a median PSA density.
Some 32 of these had lower PSA levels than the current screening benchmark of 3ng/ml, meaning they would not have been referred for further investigation.
After NHS assessment, 29 men were diagnosed with cancer that required treatment, 15 of whom had serious cancer and a PSA of less than 3ng/ml.
Some 1% were diagnosed with low-risk cancer that did not require treatment.
Prof Caroline Moore, consultant surgeon at University College London Hospitals, chief investigator of the study and NIHR research professor, said the findings are ‘sobering’ and ‘reiterates the need to consider a new approach to prostate cancer screening’.
‘Our results give an early indication that MRI could offer a more reliable method of detecting potentially serious cancers early, with the added benefit that less than 1% of participants were ‘over-diagnosed’ with low-risk disease,’ she added.
Simon Grieveson, assistant director of research at Prostate Cancer UK, said: ‘MRI scans have revolutionised the way we diagnose prostate cancer, and it’s great to see research into how we might use these scans even more effectively.
‘These results are extremely exciting, and we now want to see much larger, UK-wide studies to understand if using MRI as the first step in getting tested could form the basis of a national screening programme.’
Another trial, known as Limit, is being conducted with a much larger number of patients, which the research team said is the ‘next step towards a national prostate screening programme’.
The trial will also attempt to recruit more black men, after the team behind Reimagine found they were much less likely to respond to the invitation to screening than others.
Saran Green of King’s College London said: ‘One in four black men will get prostate cancer during their lifetime, which is double the number of men from other ethnicities.
‘Given this elevated risk, and the fact that black men were five times less likely to sign up for the Reimagine trial than white men, it will be crucial that any national screening programme includes strategies to reach black men and encourage more of them to come forward for testing.’
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