Patient perspectives on MRI scan use in active surveillance
©Dan Oldfield
Before the use of prostate biopsy alone to detect prostate cancer, MRI was used as a tool for local staging and as a component of active surveillance (AS). Recently, MRI has been seen as a valuable tool for improving assessments of cancer grade and stage and is recommended by practice guidelines, including the American Urological Association guidelines to augment risk stratification for patients managed with AS.
Despite its use in AS, to date, patient perspectives have not been explored. Recently, researchers conducted interviews of prostate cancer patients managed with AS to investigate patient experience with and knowledge of prostate MRI and MRI-ultrasound fusion biopsy.
Researchers identified five thematic categories related to MRI use from patient responses: 1) the experiential aspects of undergoing an MRI scan; 2) the experience of visualizing one’s own prostate and prostate cancer; 3) adequacy of provider explanations of MRI results; 4) confidence in prostate MRI in decision-making; and 5) the role of prostate MRI in longitudinal follow- up including an interest in using MRI to modify the timing of, or replace, prostate biopsy.
Overall, participants viewed prostate MRI as a valuable tool that accurately localizes and monitors prostate cancer over time, and considered it central to AS monitoring.
This work can inform future studies to improve patient experience and education during AS for prostate cancer.
Ryan Sutherland, Cary P. Gross, Xiaomei Ma, Farah Jeong, Tyler M. Seibert, Matthew R. Cooperberg, William J. Catalona, Shellie D. Ellis, Stacy Loeb, Dena Schulman-Green, Michael S. Leapman. “It Just Makes Sense to Me”: A Qualitative Study Exploring Patient Decision Making and Experiences with Prostate MRI During Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer, Submitted for publication
