$3 Million invested a groundbreaking trial to test MRI for diagnosis

We're proud to invest $3 million in funding for a new Phase III clinical trial to evaluate if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can replace the current standard of care to diagnose prostate cancer. This is in partnership with the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and Prostate Cancer Canada. The main objective of the multi-centre trial, called PRECISE, is to determine whether MRI imaging can spare some men from undergoing a biopsy and avoid the possible associated side effects. 

The trial will be led by Dr. Laurence Klotz of the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, a world leader in the field of prostate cancer research and in the global adoption of active surveillance, a standard practice to monitor patients with low risk prostate cancer.

Currently, prostate cancer is diagnosed by trans-rectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided biopsy of the prostate, in most cases following a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test. TRUS-guided biopsy is associated with potential side effects such as infection and bleeding because it is not targeted, requiring numerous biopsy samples (between 10 and 12) to establish an accurate reading. In addition, this current standard of care is not sensitive enough to be able to discriminate between high-risk and very low-risk changes in prostate tissue, resulting in the over-diagnosis and over-treatment of many men, exacerbating the risk for side effects.

"If positive, this trial would support a change in practice from relying on biopsies for all men with suspected prostate cancer to providing MRI first with selective targeted biopsy," explained Klotz. "This would allow 250,000 men per year in the U.S. and Canada to avoid unnecessary biopsies and the associated complications including hospitalization, without compromising our ability to identify clinically significant cancers."

Data management and analysis for the trial will be conducted by the Ontario Clinical Oncology Group (OCOG) in the Escarpment Cancer Research Institute, a Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University institute.