A trial to compare MRI scans with samples of tissue removed with surgery for prostate cancer

Cancer type:

Prostate cancer

Status:

Results

Phase:

Other

This trial aimed to match MRI scan results with information from related prostate cancer samples to help doctors improve their understanding of MRI results.

MRI scans can take pictures of the inside of your body from lots of different angles. They give very useful images of certain types of tissue in your body, and show up prostate cancer very clearly. Doctors also use MRI scans to help them work out how far your cancer has spread (your prostate cancer stage).

Doctors wanted to see if they could make MRI scans an even more useful test for prostate cancer. They wanted to get extra information about the disease by comparing your scan with the cancer sample removed during your surgery and seeing how they matched up.

The aim of this trial was to see if the information from the MRI matched the results recorded from the cancer sample after surgery.

Summary of results

The trial team found that the information from the MRI scan did match the cancer sample from the surgery.

Of the 91 men recruited into this trial, 43 had surgery to remove their prostate.

Using a computer programme developed for this trial the researchers compared the samples taken from the surgery and the MRI scans. They found that there was a good match between them.

The researchers concluded they could use MRI scans to assess prostate cancer.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.