Ultrasound Scan Can Diagnose Prostate Cancer

upstart writes:

Ultrasound scan can diagnose prostate cancer:

Researchers at Imperial College London, University College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust have found that a new type of ultrasound scan can diagnose most prostate cancer cases with good accuracy in a clinical trial involving 370 men.

The ultrasound scans missed only 4.3 per cent more clinically important prostate cancer cases -- cancer that should be treated rather than monitored -- compared to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans currently used to detect prostate cancer.

MRI scans are expensive and time-consuming. The team believes that an ultrasound scan should be used as a first test in a community healthcare setting and in low and middle income countries which do not have easy access to high quality MRI scans. They say it could be used in combination with current MRI scans to maximise cancer detection. The study is published in Lancet Oncology.

"MRI scans are one of the tests we use to diagnose prostate cancer. Although effective these scans are expensive, take up to 40 minutes to perform and are not easily available to all. Also, there are some patients who are unable to have MRI scans such as those with hip replacements or claustrophobia fears. As cancer waiting lists build as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a real need to find more efficient and cheaper tests to diagnose prostate cancer.

Read more of this story at SoylentNews.