20-minute prostate cancer imaging shows ‘encouraging’ results in trials

Professor Vassilis Sboros. Credit: Heriot-Watt University/PA Wire

By Ryan McDougall, PA Media

Prostate cancer imaging developed by university researchers has shown “extremely encouraging” results in its first clinical trials.

A team at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, leading the clinical trial said recent testing at the Western General Hospital has shown promising results in screening for the disease.

The new approach, which uses existing ultrasound technology, demonstrated an initial 94% sensitivity rate in tumour detection, and the test is delivered in under 20 minutes.

The cost of using ultrasounds tech costs around 10% of MRI scanning, which means doctors can now better guide prostate biopsies and focal therapy – which destroys cancer cells, the research team said.

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, with around 52,000 diagnoses in the UK each year (144 a day).

Researchers say the current means of testing, called a prostate specific antigen (PSA), is unreliable and means men are sent for expensive MRI scans which can come with long waiting lists.