What’s the best way to biopsy when a man has suspected prostate cancer? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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When a man is suspected of having prostate cancer he will likely undergo a biopsy, where a needle is inserted into the prostate gland to look for cancer. Now a new study shows that using magnetic resonance imaging or MRI along with ultrasound helps identify suspicious areas and improves the technique. William Nelson, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, describes the study.

Nelson: Three to four biopsy cores were going to be aimed at that suspicious lesion then the men would have the ten to twelve biopsy cores. They found the clinically significant cancer in 21% of the men who got the targeted biopsy, a little bit more than the men in the ten to twelve core biopsies, 18% of them. But the clinically insignificant cancers were somewhat lower in the experimental group. Have the focused biopsy highlighted by MRI, followed by the core biopsy seemed to be better.  :31

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.