The Urology Unit of the Hospital Universitario Torrecárdenas has performed the first prostate biopsies guided by fusion of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Transrectal Ultrasound for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. The tests were carried out by doctors José Luis Soler and José Miguel Molina from the Almeria hospital. This type of prostate biopsy guided by Magnetic Resonance Fusion and transrectal ultrasound allows 30% more aggressive cancers to be diagnosed, which would have gone undetected by the classic biopsy, the ultrasound-guided transrectal biopsy, according to doctors José Luis Soler and José Miguel Molina.
For his part, the managing director of the Hospital Universitario Torrecárdenas, Manuel Vida, pointed out that “in this way, the Urology Unit of our hospital is taking a significant step forward in improving the quality of care. We continue with our commitment to improve day by day in everything that involves an improvement, the greatest beneficiaries of which are our patients and, therefore, the entire population of Almeria”.
José Ignacio Abad, head of the hospital’s Urology Unit, explained that “Magnetic Resonance Imaging is revolutionising the diagnosis of prostate cancer by detecting suspicious areas of cancer in this area. In the procedure, the patient is offered a prostate biopsy guided by MRI and transrectal ultrasound image fusion, and samples are taken from the suspicious areas”. The ultrasound shows the images of the prostate in real time and the ultrasound scanner must have a computer system (fusion software) that allows the MRI and ultrasound images to be superimposed. “This fusion of images gives us a 3D (3-dimensional) image of the prostate, which allows us to direct the needle to the suspicious areas with high precision. It also opens up the possibility of focal treatments for localised, low-risk prostate carcinoma,” explained Dr. José Ignacio Abad.
It should be remembered that prostate cancer is the most common malignant tumour among men, although it has a high cure rate with early diagnosis. One in three men will suffer from prostate cancer, as the incidence in our country is more than 30,000 new cases every year.