Diagnosis

A study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows that a new test for prostate cancer is better at detecting aggressive cancer than PSA. The new test, which has undergone trial in 58,818 men, discovers aggressive cancer earlier and reduces the number of false positive tests and unnecessary biopsies. Read the article.

A device used to protect American marines from anthrax during the Gulf War is now safeguarding some Canadian men against aggressive prostate cancer thanks to the ingenuity of a London scientist. The device is so precise and quick, in just three or four minutes, using just a teardrop of blood, a doctor can see if a patient has a typical prostate cancer, which grows slowly, or an ominous type that must be treated aggressively. Read the article.

Researchers in England have developed a new diagnostic test that can detect urology-related cancers by ‘smelling’ the diseases in urine samples. The new procedure, inspired by dogs’ ability to sniff out melanomas, could eliminate the need for painful probes and the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, both of which are invasive and seen as a factor behind men not visiting the doctor with prostate problems. Read the article.

A new standard for evaluating MR images to diagnose prostate cancer has been agreed upon by international radiological institutions and is now published in the journal European Urology. The new procedure reduces the over-diagnosis of insignificant cancers by up to 89 percent and assists in the diagnosis of up to 13 percent more life-threatening tumors than current procedures. Read the article.

Incorporating scores from two urine-based biomarker assays may reduce the number of biopsies men with clinically localized prostate cancer need to undergo without greatly affecting 10-year survival rates, according to the results of a decision analysis. Read the article.

A revolutionary prostate biopsy approach uses fewer needles and is more accurate for diagnosing prostate cancer. It is done during a real time MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan that clearly shows suspicious sites. When done by an expert radiologist using a highly powerful magnet, only a minimum number of needles are used to sample suspicious abnormalities. Read the article.

The study provides compelling evidence that few benign cancer suspicious regions increase in suspicion score and/or the greatest linear measurement within 1 year independent of the baseline suspicion score. Therefore, routinely repeating multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging at 1 year in men with pathologically benign cancer suspicious regions should be discouraged since it is unlikely to influence management decisions. Read the article.

A cheap test which can gauge the size of prostate cancer tumours has the potential to save thousands of lives each year, scientists believe The new test, which works like a pregnancy test, is twice as reliable as the current PSA blood test and would allow patients to find out in minutes whether they had cancer based on the levels of EN2 in their urine – a protein which is produced by tumours. Read the article.