MRI: Effective Tool For Determining Pathologic Stage Of Prostate Cancer

In patients with prostate cancer undergoing prostatectomy, MR imaging plays an important role in determining if the cancer is restricted to the prostate gland or if it has spread beyond the capsule, according to a study performed at the University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

The study included a review of 119 patients who were referred for prostate MRI prior to prostatectomy. “Results showed that MRI correctly identified 87/92 (95%) of patients with T2 and 6/8 (75%) of patients with T3 disease (T2 means the disease is organ confined and T3 means the disease has locally spread beyond the prostate),” said Timothy McClure, MD, lead author of the study. Steven Raman, MD, worked with Dr. McClure on this study.

Medicare Proposes Expansion Of PET Scans As Cancer Diagnostic Tool

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a national coverage determination (NCD) to expand coverage for initial diagnostic testing with positron emission tomography (PET) for many Medicare beneficiaries who are being treated for cancer.

A minimally invasive diagnostic imaging procedure, PET uses a radioactive tracer to evaluate glucose metabolism in tumors and in normal tissue. The test may provide important clinical information to guide the initial treatment approach for many tumors. This additional information may help physicians to distinguish benign from cancerous lesions and better determine the extent of a tumor’s growth or metastasis.