Within five years of being treated for prostate cancer with radiation, 20-30% of men display symptoms that suggest that their cancer has recurred. The standard treatment for recurring prostate cancer is to target the entire prostate, which is associated with severe complications.
To help improve current treatments and address this issue, UHN researchers have developed a new procedure that uses high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to help pinpoint the cancer. The procedure creates detailed three-dimensional images that are used to help guide the removal of small tissue samples (biopsies) from the prostate to more accurately distinguish between healthy and cancerous tissues.
To evaluate this new procedure, Dr. Cynthia Ménard, a Clinical Researcher at PM Cancer Centre and Affiliated Faculty at Techna, led a clinical trial that enrolled 30 men suspected of recurrent prostate cancer. Researchers found that recurrent tumours could be identified more accurately when MRI images were taken using multiple techniques. They also found that the MRI-guided biopsies enabled more accurate identification of the boundary of the tumour in three dimensions.
This procedure represents a new, higher resolution diagnostic tool that, if adopted, could help men with recurrent prostate cancer to keep as much healthy prostate tissue as possible, while ensuring that the cancer is treated.
This work was supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Ontario's Ministry of Research and Innovation, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation.
MR-guided prostate biopsy for planning of focal salvage after radiation therapy. Ménard C, Iupati D, Publicover J, Lee J, Abed J, O'Leary G, Simeonov A, Foltz WD, Milosevic M, Catton C, Morton G, Bristow R, Bayley A, Atenafu EG, Evans AJ, Jaffray DA, Chung P, Brock KK, Haider MA. Radiology. 2014 Sep 8. [Pubmed abstract]
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