MRIs become important tools in diagnosing prostate cancer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Significant advances are being made in the treatment of prostate cancer.

That’s the second most common form of cancer in men, second only to skin cancer.

And although 34,000 men will die from prostate cancer this year, that number is actually down from years past.

New treatments and diagnostic techniques are helping.

Dr. James Kearns, from Atrium Health’s Levine Cancer Institute in Charlotte, says MRIs have become an important tool in helping diagnose prostate cancer.

“Prostate MRI is one of those new technologies that’s really come to the forefront in the last five to 10 years,” Dr. Kearns said. “And MRIs can help us identify areas of the prostate that may be concerning for cancer. And there are urologists in the area, myself included, who are able to use those MRIs to guide specifically targeted biopsies. So we can actually pinpoint certain areas of the prostate for biopsy...to see if that area that we saw on the MRI has more aggressive cancer and so if the MRI is suggestive, that’s another reason to think about maybe proceeding with a prostate biopsy.”

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