This July in the journal Abdominal Radiology, published by the global publisher Springer, marks one year since the robotic apparatus was put into operation at Clínica Girona.
Girona. 24 July 2020. Now, one year after Clínica Girona pioneered the first robotic system in Spain for carrying out prostate biopsies under magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the paper by the Ressonància Girona team, “Magnetic resonance imaging-guided biopsy for detecting significant prostate cancer, initial experience,” has been published in the journal “Abdominal Radiology,” by the global publisher Springer. The work was carried out in the Magnetic Resonance service at Clínica Girona and is authored by Joan Carles Vilanova, Anna Pérez de Tudela, Josep Puig, Martijn Hoogenboom, Joaquim Barceló, Montse Planas, Sònia Sala, and Santiago Thió-Henestrosa.
The new system for performing prostate biopsies with a robot guided by MRI represents a more effective diagnostic method, without the need for anaesthetic and with a total process duration of just over 30 minutes. This makes the technique very well accepted by patients, as it does not involve any type of surgical intervention. Currently, 39 biopsies have already been carried out since its implementation at Clínica Girona in July 2019.
A study of 30 patients
The aim of this scientific article is to evaluate the practical utility of robotic-assisted Magnetic Resonance (MR) guided biopsy for the diagnosis of prostate cancer. The study was conducted on a trial involving 30 patients with a suspicious lesion for cancer interpreted on MRI, and the success of the technical procedure, clinical data, biopsy findings in correlation with the MR examination, complications, and cancer detection were analysed.
The results showed the detection of prostate cancer in 73% of patients, of whom 89% had the most aggressive type of cancer. When the MRI showed a highly suspicious lesion, 92% of patients had cancer. All lesions could be studied and biopsies could be performed with the robot's guidance in different locations of the prostate.
These results show superior cancer detection in robot-assisted MRI-guided prostate biopsies compared to ultrasound-guided biopsy methods, which show detection rates of up to 45-60% of prostate cancer.
The conclusion of the study is clear: “Initial data show that MRI-guided biopsy with a robotic device can be a useful, efficient, and feasible procedure in the new paradigm for diagnosing aggressive prostate cancer. This method may represent an alternative to the current usual method of performing multiple random biopsies.”.
Reference
Vilanova JC, Pérez de Tudela A, Puig J, Hoogenboom M, Barceló J, Planas M, Sala S. Thió-Henestrosa S. Robotic-assisted transrectal MRI-guided biopsy. Technical feasibility and role in the current diagnosis of prostate cancer: an initial single-centre experience. Abdom Radiol 2020, online July.
