How will the NHS and primary care benefit from the MRI Prostate Health Check service?

PSA testing allows men to undergo prostate cancer checks. We know men can have significant prostate cancer with a normal PSA. An MRI Prostate offers the opportunity to identify significant prostate cancer in those men whose PSA has been speculated to be normal for their age. Data from the re-imagine study group showed that high quality MRI scan using T2 and DWI (diffusion weighted imaging) sequences by high volume reporting radiologists picked up significant cancer in 1 in 6 men who had an upfront MRI. Some of these men had a PSA less than 3ng/ml, who would not be eligible for further investigations under some guidelines. There is growing evidence especially from UK research groups, Re-Imagine and IP1 prostagram study which shows then benefit of MRI being able to pick up significant prostate cancers without over diagnosis.

The NHS is working hard to improve cancer diagnosis at an earlier stage. Re-Imagine and IP1 prostatgram study helps provide research evidence to support screening MRI as an adjunct to PSA.

Prostate health checks using MRI allows significant cancers to be detected earlier and therefore allows patients to have a range of curative treatment options or active surveillance at the earliest opportunity.