A quarter of men suspected of having prostate cancer could avoid invasive and potentially dangerous biopsies with the help of MRI scans, researchers reported. In the case of prostate cancer, “over-diagnosed” includes relatively benign cancers that do not cause any harm during a man’s lifetime. “Prostate cancer has aggressive and harmless forms,” noted lead author Hashim Ahmed, a surgeon at University College London’s faculty of medicine. Typically, men undergo a prostate biopsy if they experience certain symptoms or show high levels of a protein in their blood, as detected by a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. “Our current biopsy test can be inaccurate because the tissue samples are taken at random,” Ahmed said in a statement.

Source: Manila Times January 24, 2017 15:49 UTC