Micro-ultrasound for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Overview

This is a single-center, paired-cohort, prospective study. Patients with a clinical suspicion of csPCa will receive mpMRI and Micro-US in two different visits. The results of the diagnostic procedures will determine how many and which type prostate biopsies patients will undergo. During the following visit, patients with both positive mpMRI and Micro-US, defined as the presence of one or more lesions with PI-RADS ≥ 3 and PRI-MUS ≥ 3 respectively, will receive a 12-core TRUSBx in addiction to MRI-TBx and Micro-US-TBx (Group 4). Patients with both negative mpMRI and Micro-US will receive a 12-core TRUSBx (Group 1). Patients with only positive mpMRI will receive MRI-TBx and 12-core TRUSBx (Group 2). Patients with only positive Micro-US-TBx will receive Micro-US-TBx and 12-core TRUSBx (Group 3). Our hypothesis is that the sensitivity for csPCa (defined as prostate cancer with Gleason score ≥ 3+4) of Micro-US will be superior or at least equal to that of mpMRI. Despite the introduction of the mpMRI and MRI-TBx has improved the diagnostic pathway of PCa, the proportion of men with negative mpMRI with a csPCa is still difficult to delineate due to the high variability of mpMRI negative predictive value (NPV) and specificity. In this context, a specific standardization of the use of Micro-US may play a crucial role to optimize PCa diagnostic pathway. Moreover, a direct comparison between Micro-US and mpMRI might be useful to determinate whether Micro-US could be more accurate than mpMRI for PCa diagnosis. Furthermore, in patients with suspicion of PCa the combined use between mpMRI and Micro-US might increase the detection of csPCa and reduce the number of unnecessary biopsies, improving mpMRI limitations in NPV and specificity. Demonstrating that Micro-US provides a similar sensitivity for csPCa as compared to mpMRI may lead to its definitive inclusion in daily clinical practice, potentially replacing mpMRI, streamlining the current diagnostic pathway of PCa.