After 10 years of research, Dr Thompson and colleagues recently published the final analysis of the MRIAS trial, a world-first prospective trial in which men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer suitable for active surveillance were enrolled into an innovative surveillance strategy which replaced the usual surveillance biopsy with annual MRI scans.
Men in the study were found to have a relatively low risk of progression to needing treatment, and the new MRI-based surveillance strategy was found to be safe and detect most tumours, although a routine biopsy at 3-years was found still to be necessary even in men whose MRI and PSA blood tests were reassuring, due to rare MRI-invisible tumours.
This new MRI-based surveillance strategy with a reduced frequency of invasive biopsies, can now be used safely in routine clinical practice which will improve early detection of cancers requiring treatment as well as improve quality of life for men on surveillance.
the study abstract is available at the link below:
https://www.auajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1097/JU.0000000000002885