Can an imaging study (MRI or color Doppler ultrasound) take the place of a prostate biopsy?
Prostate imaging has improved dramatically in recent years. Urologists and radiologists working collaboratively at the Smilow Center are defining novel techniques to improve diagnostic imaging of the prostate. We are now able to see small areas of cancer that would have previously gone unnoticed. Despite this, no imaging study today can replace the need for a prostate biopsy. At the Smilow Center, we regularly use prostate MRI both to evaluate men who have already been diagnosed with prostate cancer and to determine if we have missed a cancer in men who have a negative biopsy but a very suspicious PSA. Color Doppler ultrasound and other forms of imaging are used to guide biopsy needles to the most suspicious areas in the prostate (‘targeted’ or ‘smart’ biopsy). Although these tests enhance the sensitivity of detection (the ability to find potential sites of cancer), they do have a high likelihood of false positives, so abnormal findings resulting from imaging studies must be confirmed
