Whole‐body MRI for staging prostate cancer: a narrative review

Abstract

ObjectiveTo present a narrative review regarding the diagnostic accuracy of whole‐body magnetic resonance imaging (WBMRI) in staging patients with high‐risk prostate cancer (HRPCa) and compare it to established imaging modalities.MethodsA narrative review was carried out using PubMed using the following keywords: ‘whole body’, ‘magnetic resonance imaging’, ‘MRI’, ‘prostate cancer’, ‘risk stratification’, and ‘staging’. Articles that evaluated WBMRI as the imaging modality to stage patients with HRPCa were included, while studies that solely assessed for biochemical recurrence or metastatic disease progression were excluded.ResultsIn the evaluation of lymphatic metastases, WBMRI has demonstrated a comparable, if not improved, sensitivity and specificity compared to conventional imaging of computed tomography (CT). Furthermore, WBMRI demonstrates improved sensitivity and specificity in detecting bone metastases compared to bone scintigraphy (BS). However, with advent of prostate‐specific membrane antigen (PSMA) radioligands for positron emission tomography (PET), the diagnostic performance of WBMRI to detect metastatic disease appears inferior.ConclusionsThe diagnostic capabilities of WBMRI exceed that of conventional imaging of CT and BS in detecting metastatic disease in patients with HRPCa. However, WBMRI does not perform as well as PSMA PET/CT. Further study on cost comparisons between WBMRI and PSMA PET/CT are needed, as well as evaluations of combined PSMA PET/MRI are needed.