Why Would You Need a MRI for Prostate Cancer?

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests are very useful in many ways when dealing with prostate cancer. They can help predict the likelihood of prostate cancer spreading or returning for patients who are about to undergo radiation therapy.

Function

• Magnetic resonance imaging is a test that makes pictures of organs and structures in the body with the use of magnetic field impulses, radio frequency pulses and a computer.

Why Use an MRI ?

• An MRI can give different information about structures in the body as well as being able to show problems that cannot be seen with other imaging methods like x-ray, ultrasound or computed tomography (CT) scan.

What Is MRI of the Prostate ?

• An MRI can detect a tumor at the top of the prostate, which a biopsy and other methods of detection fail to do.

Benefits

• MRI is noninvasive and does not involve exposure to x-ray materials. It can image soft-structure tissues and pelvic structures with clearer pictures, and can detect and image a broad range of conditions like prostate cancer. MRI can examine the chemical makeup of the prostate and detect abnormalities.

Risks

• There can be a very slight risk of a mild allergic reaction if contrast material is injected. On occasion, nephrogenic systemic fibrosis, a complication caused by high doses of the MRI contrast material in patients who have poor kidney function, can occur.