Newswise — SOUTHFIELD, MI, Aug. 7, 2024 - New Corewell HealthTM research suggests an MRI scan can help predict whether patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer (cancer confined to the entire prostate) may have more aggressive cancer in five years. Knowing this could potentially help doctors determine if treatment is needed up front vs.
using a method called active surveillance where the disease is closely monitored over time. The study , recently published in the Journal of Urology, is the first to evaluate this risk group. Currently, there has been a growing trend to manage low-risk prostate cancer patients with active surveillance to help patients avoid side effects associated with surgery or radiation.
Patients are considered low risk when less than half of one lobe of the prostate is affected, and the cancer cells haven’t mutated or changed much. However, for intermediate-risk patients, choosing what treatment path is best can be a bit more challenging for doctors. “While active surveillance is the standard of care for low-risk patients, it's been unclear whether patients with a slower-growing form of intermediate-risk prostate cancer should be carefully watched or undergo immediate treatment,” said Kiran Nandalur, M.
D., principal investigator of the study and a radiologist at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital. “Our data suggests that an MRI can show suspicious lesions based on size and markers of tumor aggression, which may help doctor.