Contemporary Epstein Criteria with Biopsy-Naïve Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Prevent Incorrect Assignment to Active Surveillance in the PI-RADS Version 2.0 Era.

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mp-MRI) in prostate cancer (PCa) patients with biopsy Gleason score ≤ 6 who may otherwise be assigned to active surveillance (AS). This was a retrospective study of 90 patients who underwent transrectal systematic biopsy for prostate cancer with Gleason score ≤ 6 without neoadjuvant therapy, with radical prostatectomy (RP) conducted between September 2009 and March 2018. All patients underwent prebiopsy mp-MRI. The prostate imaging reporting and data system (PI-RADS) version 2.0 score was evaluated. The correlation between imaging results and pathological findings was analyzed. We established models based on Epstein criteria with or without PI-RADS score and evaluated their ability for screening of potential PCa AS candidates. Among 90 patients, 60 (66.7%) had upgrade (Gleason ≥ 7), 30 (33.3%) had extraprostatic extension, and 9 (10%) had seminal vesicle invasion on RP specimens. The rate of unfavorable disease was 67.8% (61 of 90). On multivariate analysis, independent risk factors for unfavorable disease were prostate-specific antigen density and PI-RADS score. The model based on Epstein criteria with PI-RADS score showed improved integrated discrimination improvement index and was superior to the classical Epstein criteria on decision curve analysis for screening potential prostate cancer AS candidates. Multiparametric MRI with PIRADS 2.0 provides useful supplementary information to Epstein criteria, and may prevent incorrect assignment to active surveillance.