Moreover, combining an MRI-guided biopsy with the more standard approach of taking a systematic sampling of biopsies from around the prostate boosted the likelihood that a positive initial biopsy result was truly positive.

In the study, the risk of later developing a high-grade prostate cancer was less than 8% for men whose biopsies were negative, 11% if the biopsy revealed a Gleason Score of 6, and 23% with a score of 7.


“While MRI-guided biopsy is being used,” Marks said, “it is still not being very widely used and our results have the potential to establish a new standard for using it in active surveillance.”

MRI-guided biopsy can be used to determine which men should receive more frequent follow-up biopsies or even active intervention before a higher-grade tumor develops, Marks said.

The study also integrated the use of tracked biopsies — in which technology lets physicians take a follow-up biopsy from the same location as a previous biopsy to determine how a cancer is changing. Marks’ team found that the tracked biopsy detected more upward changes in the grading of cancers — from a low-grade to high-grade tumor — than non-tracked biopsies. However, more work is needed to study the value of tracked biopsies.

“All these new technologies are advancing the field and serving patients better,” Marks said.

Dr. Rajiv Jayadevan, a UCLA urology resident, is the study’s first author. Other authors include Dr. Ely Felker of the UCLA department of radiology, Dr. Anthony Sisk of the UCLA department of pathology; and Lorna Kwan, Danielle Barsa, Haoyue Zhang and Merdie Delfin of the UCLA department of urology.

Funding for the study was provided by the National Cancer Institute, the Jean Perkins Foundation, the Kent Kresa Family Foundation, and the Steven C. Gordon Family Foundation.

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