A group of international experts has recommended the use of quick and targeted MRI scans for prostate cancer screening, aiming to reduce overdiagnosis and unnecessary biopsies.
The expert consensus statement, developed by researchers from Imperial College London and involving 21 urologists, radiologists and pathologists from Europe and the US, will be presented at the European Association of Urology congress in London. It recommends rapid MRI scans lasting under 15 minutes for men aged 50 to 70, or from age 45 for black men.
Key proposals include using prostate specific antigen (PSA) tests before MRI to identify high-risk individuals, with repeat screening tailored to each patient. The consensus also emphasises the need for standardised protocols in future screening programmes.
Nikhil Mayor, a doctoral fellow at Imperial presenting the study, said: “MRI is key to diagnosing prostate cancer but there’s no agreement as to how it should be used in population-level screening. We hope that these recommendations, backed by international expert consensus, will be widely adopted so that protocols are standardised for future screening pilots, studies and programmes.”
The recommendations will inform the Transform trial by Prostate Cancer UK, which is evaluating promising screening techniques including PSA tests, genetic tests and 10-minute MRI scans. Meanwhile, the UK National Screening Committee (UKNSC) is expected to publish its final recommendation on population-wide prostate cancer screening later this month, after a draft in November advised against routine PSA screening due to harms outweighing benefits.
A separate study being presented at the same congress found that a risk-based approach could reduce the number of MRI referrals for prostate cancer by up to 60%. Meike van Harten, from Erasmus MC Cancer Institute, said: “We need to find ways to reduce demand on MRI so that fewer men have unnecessary tests and those that need it get timely access to a diagnosis.”
