The Urology Unit of the Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital, directed by Prof. Giovanni Muto, is among the first structures in Italy to offer this innovative possibility of diagnosis for the form of cancer with the highest incidence in men today over-50
A 'navigator' that merges the magnetic resonance images with those of the three-dimensional ultrasound, guiding the biopsy needle to the 'target', i.e. the neoplastic cells inside the prostate: this is the possibility offered by the 'fusion' technology, now available at the Urology Operating Unit of Campus Bio-Medico University Hospital, directed by Prof. Giovanni Muto. Structure it is the first in Lazio, among those accredited with the National Health Service, and one of the first in Italy to be able to offer its patients this innovative type of diagnostic test. In addition to significantly reducing the risk that some prostate cancers may go undetected, fusion biopsy avoid having to prick the same area several times, because it makes the tumor tissue visible in a different way compared to the healthy one, overcoming the limit of the traditional ultrasound ultrasound.
"Le three-dimensional images made available by the 'fusion' biopsy – explains Prof. Muto – provide the operator with the coordinates needed to locate and reach with the needle, while examining, the tumor mass. An important novelty, because until now the tumor visible on the magnetic resonance could not then be identified in a 'targeted' way with the ultrasound during the investigation, which was carried out randomly. For this, patients were forced to undergo even two or three negative biopsies before obtaining a positive result. Also, to be more likely to encounter cancer, the traditional technique required at least twelve samples of fabric, with a detection rate that did not, however, exceed 35 per cent. Now two or three are enough to allow the clinician to set up a truly tailor-made therapy for prostate cancer".
A novelty, that of the 'fusion' biopsy, which affects an increasing number of people: according to the data of Italian Society of UrologyIndeed, among the men over-50 iProstate cancer is the leading malignancy in terms of incidence (12 per cent, it also surpassed that of the lung, stopped at 10 per cent) and represents about 15 percent of all male cancers diagnosed. Moreover, the incidence has more than doubled in the last ten years (+53 per cent), also following the increase in the average age of the population and the introduction of the prostate specific antigen test, or PSA.
