{"id":14930,"date":"2022-09-14T10:46:09","date_gmt":"2022-09-14T15:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rayusradiology.com\/?post_type=location_news_posts&p=14930"},"modified":"2022-09-14T10:46:09","modified_gmt":"2022-09-14T15:46:09","slug":"how-mri-guided-ultrasound-can-help-detect-prostate-cancer","status":"publish","type":"location_news_posts","link":"https:\/\/rayusradiology.com\/location-news\/twin-cities-minnesota\/how-mri-guided-ultrasound-can-help-detect-prostate-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"How MRI-Guided Ultrasound Can Help Detect Prostate Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As many as 1 in 6 men will get prostate cancer. That makes it the most common type of cancer<\/a> for men after skin cancer. When it comes to testing, the American Urological Association<\/a> says the greatest benefit of screening appears to be in men ages 55 to 69 years. But Dr. Todd Brandt of Metro Urology in St. Paul, Minnesota says it\u2019s not a young man\u2019s or an old man\u2019s disease. Instead, all <\/em>men need to be aware of risk factors and familiar with the tests that help detect prostate cancer.<\/p>\n

Most Common Prostate Exams<\/h3>\n
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The most common prostate screening exams are 1.) a blood test that checks your PSA level and 2.) a rectal exam. Unless either of these point to a problem, or you\u2019re having symptoms like difficulty going to the bathroom, the PSA and the rectal exam are likely all you\u2019ll ever have. But, if you have an abnormal exam or cancer is detected, you can expect a biopsy. The industry standard is a transrectal ultrasound (called TRUS) biopsy performed in your urologist\u2019s office. Dr. Brandt says the TRUS biopsy does have shortfalls. In some patients, a biopsy is negative but their PSA level is still rising. It may mean the ultrasound didn\u2019t see the cancer. Dr. Sidney Walker, a body radiologist at RAYUS, says a TRUS biopsy isn\u2019t always able to identify the prostate cancer because of where the cancer lesion is located. There\u2019s actually a region of your prostate that is hard to see with ultrasound says Dr. Brandt:<\/p>\n

\u201cAn ultrasound isn\u2019t necessarily all that sensitive for picking up areas or specific parts of the prostate or zones of the prostate which may harbor the cancer. That is, we can look with an ultrasound but we may not actually see the cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSeeing the Cancer\u201d with MRI-Guided Ultrasound<\/h3>\n

Today, urologists like Dr. Brandt are starting to use MRI as a tool to better \u201csee\u201d the cancer. So after your PSA and rectal exam, if something is detected, your doctor may send you for an MRI. If a suspicious area is identified, knowing exactly where it is can help target the next biopsy. The images from the MRI are actually used during the ultrasound biopsy as a sort of a map. One way this is done uses Prostate MRI and ultrasound together – called TRUS fusion, this new technique fuses the two types of technology. Dr. Walker explains how it works:<\/p>\n