title: The emerging role of diffusion-weighted MRI in prostate cancer management.
abstract: A significant amount of research has focused on the role of diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) in the management of patients with prostate cancer. Although uncertainties remain, a clearer picture of where this technique fits into clinical practice is now available. A combination of DW-MRI and T2-weighted MRI (T2W-MRI) demonstrates improved accuracy for lesion detection and localization compared with T2W-MRI alone, and has been suggested as a tool to guide tissue biopsy. DW-MRI could also have roles in active surveillance, evaluating treatment efficacy, and predicting disease recurrence. Furthermore, DW-MRI offers the exciting possibility of gathering information about tumor characteristics and aggressiveness in a noninvasive manner. Validation in large prospective multicenter trials is critical if this technique is to be integrated into current management algorithms for prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 1QQ, UK. eml42@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Edward M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: Vincent J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Gnanapragasam
authors.forename: Andrew N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Priest
authors.forename: Evis
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sala
mesh_terms: D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D019468:Disease Management; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results