Improving accuracy through MRI fusion biopsy.

Before the actual biopsy, the patient's prostate is first imaged in a multiparametric MRI (mpMRI). This creates a kind of "map" in which areas suspected of having a tumor are marked, which we use for precise orientation during the tissue sampling. The actual biopsy then takes place in a second step under the control of a high-resolution, transrectal ultrasound with fusion of the MRI map with the ultrasound images.

By combining both procedures, a higher level of diagnostic accuracy can be achieved. As recent studies have shown, the detection rate of prostate cancer with an MRI fusion biopsy after tissue has already been removed is 41 percent, significantly higher than the 10 to 20 percent for a biopsy using transrectal ultrasound alone.

Another advantage is that the exact determination of both the localization and the aggressiveness of the individual tumor foci in the prostate means that treatment can be very targeted. Especially for modern therapies, such as brachytherapy, in which the entire prostate is not removed but irradiated with pinpoint accuracy, the MRI fusion biopsy provides valuable supplementary information.