MRI-Fusion Biopsy

MRI-FUSION BIOPSY

PINPOINT ACCURACY IN PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSIS: MRI-FUSION BIOPSY

According to American Cancer Society data, 1 in every 6 men develops prostate cancer during his lifetime. This disease, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in men after lung cancer, can be treated successfully when diagnosed early. One of the revolutionary developments in the diagnosis of this disease, in which early diagnosis is extremely important, has been the “MRI-Fusion Biopsy” method.

How Is Prostate Cancer Detected Early?

Prostate cancer has no typical early symptoms and only reveals itself through complaints that appear in the advanced stage. At that stage, the person's chance of recovering from the disease may no longer exist. For this reason, it is very important to detect the disease while it is still confined to the prostate, that is, in the early period when it shows no clinical signs. For early diagnosis, men with a family history of prostate cancer should see a urologist once a year for a prostate examination after the age of 45, and those without a family history after the age of 50.

How Is Prostate Cancer Diagnosed?

Measuring the blood level of a protein called “PSA”, which is secreted by the prostate and passes into the blood in certain amounts, and the digital rectal examination of the prostate are the methods that form the first step in diagnosis. If findings raising suspicion of prostate cancer are detected with these two diagnostic methods, tissue sampling with a prostate biopsy is required for a definitive diagnosis.

How Is a Prostate Biopsy Performed?

A classic prostate biopsy is performed through the rectum under ultrasound guidance, and tissue samples are taken by blindly sampling 10-12 points of the prostate. However, with this method only 70-75% of prostate cancer cases can be diagnosed, and a significant proportion of cancer cases are missed. Repeat biopsies are recommended for cases in which cancer was not diagnosed after biopsy but suspicion of cancer persists, and this creates a risk of serious infection, bleeding and pain for patients.

What Is MRI-Fusion Biopsy?

MRI-Fusion Biopsy is a highly sensitive “smart biopsy” method that detects suspicious foci for cancer in the prostate and allows these targets to be sampled with pinpoint accuracy. In the procedure, multiparametric MRI images of the prostate are first examined and areas suspicious for cancer are marked. The MRI images are then processed with special software and fused with ultrasound images; after the images are converted to 3D, the biopsy needle is guided to the marked suspicious points with the help of a robotic arm and a targeted biopsy is performed.

This method has a very high accuracy rate (98%) in the diagnosis of prostate cancer; cancer cases are not missed as in standard biopsies, and repeat biopsies are no longer needed.