International Medical Imaging Experts Join Efforts to Advance Prostate Cancer Care

American College of Radiology (ACR), AdMeTech Foundation and European Society of Urogenital Radiology (ESUR) Create Standards for High Quality MRI

BOSTON, Feb. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ACR, AdMeTech Foundation and ESUR announced today a joint effort to create standards for a high quality prostate MRI and to expedite its transfer of technologies from laboratories to patients. Standards for the Magnetic Resonance Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (MR PI-RADS) are modeled after successful efforts in breast cancer care, and are planning to be released in early 2013.

The goal of this international cooperation is to address the central challenge in prostate cancer care recently framed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, American Cancer Society and other groups – improving early detection while reducing unnecessary biopsies and treatment.  MR PI-RADS will be based on prostate MRI guidelines developed by ESUR and the work by the AdMeTech Foundation's International Prostate MRI Working Group.

AdMeTech Foundation has been providing international leadership in supporting research, development and testing of high-precision prostate MRI since 1998. AdMeTech's research program has been funded by the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, U.S. Army Medical Research, and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, MD.  Dr. Faina Shtern, President of AdMeTech Foundation said, "In the '90s, the American College of Radiology led development of the BI-RADS standardization of breast cancer imaging which transformed women's health.  Over the last several years, ESUR led the way in the development of proposed clinical reporting guidelines for prostate MRI. On behalf of AdMeTech Foundation, I would like to thank Dr. Jeffrey Weinreb of ACR and Jelle Barentsz of ESUR for their leadership and partnership in PI-RADS standardization of prostate imaging, which is expected to make a direct and immediate impact on ending the era of blind prostate cancer care and creating the future of the image-guided, least invasive and the most cost-effective diagnosis and treatment." 

Dr. Mitchell Schnall, Matthew J. Wilson Professor of Radiology at the University of PA, a pioneer of the prostate-dedicated MRI, one of the original recipients of AdMeTech's research support for high-precision imaging and a Principal Investigator of the American College of Radiology Imaging Network, stated, "Over the last several years, I have been watching growing scientific evidence in support of prostate MRI and its potential to improve patient care in the way which is strongly reminiscent of the research progress we had seen twenty years ago in breast cancer imaging. As a man who lost his father to the complications of prostate cancer and its treatment, I am experiencing a sense of renewed hope for so many men facing the threat of prostate cancer every day."

Prostate cancer is the most common major cancer in the United States and the second most lethal cancer in men. Prostate cancer – diagnosed in as many as 1 in 6 men – has become even more common than breast cancer (striking 1 in 8 women). In spite of the magnitude of the prostate cancer epidemic, prostate cancer has not been recognized as a public health priority, and men do not have accurate diagnostic tools akin to life-saving mammograms. 

ABOUT AdMeTech Foundation: A Boston-based non-profit organization providing leadership for ground-breaking programs in research, education and awareness to advance diagnostic tools for improved early detection and treatment of prostate cancer. AdMeTech Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support from the Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC). AdMeTech Foundation's International Prostate MRI Working Group's research and development were made possible by grants awarded and managed by the U.S. Army Medical Research & Materiel Command (USAMRMC) and TATRC, at Fort Detrick, MD under Contract Numbers:  W81XWH-09-0552; DAMD17-03-2-0055; WX1XWH-11-0077 (www.admetech.org).

ABOUT American College of Radiology: The ACR is a national professional organization serving more than 34,000 radiologists, radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians and medical physicists with programs focusing on the practice of radiology and the delivery of comprehensive health care services.

ABOUT ESUR: The European Society of Urogenital Radiology (ESUR) was founded in 1990, to promote high quality science and clinical practice of urogenital radiology. Members of the ESUR are the world leading radiologists in urogenital radiology. This society was especially successful with establishment of guidelines on the safe use of contrast media and on female genital imaging, and recently on standardization of prostate MRI.

SOURCE AdMeTech Foundation