Patients With “Gray Zone” PSA Levels: Application of Prostate MRI and MRS in the Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer

Improving the detection rates of prostate cancer (PCa) and avoiding unnecessary prostate biopsies in men with prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels within the gray zone require urgent attention. In this context, rapid advances in MR technology in recent years may offer a promising possibility. A systematic review to evaluate the applications of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in detecting PCa and clinically significant PCa (csPCa) in men with PSA levels within the gray zone. The study type is defined as systematic review. In July 2022, out of 229 studies identified by the database search and from other sources, 23 articles related to the selected topic of interest were included in this review. No field strength or sequence restrictions. The data including the study population, study characteristics, as well as basic MRI characteristics, from the final studies included in this review, were extracted independently by two reviewers. The major results of the original study were summarized and no additional statistical analysis was performed. Among the 23 studies included in this review, 17 focused on the applications of MRS and MRI for the prebiopsy diagnosis of PCa. Nine of these 17 articles used Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) score to interpret MRI results, thereby confirming the practicality of the PI-RADS score in predicting PCa and csPCa. The remaining six articles evaluated the applications of MRI and MRS in guiding prostate biopsy. Although there was a variation in the biopsy modalities used in these studies, both MRI- and MRS-guided prostate biopsies were observed to improve the detection rates of PCa and csPCa in patients with PSA levels within the gray zone. MRS and MRI showed good performance in the detection of PCa and csPCa before biopsy. In addition, MRS- or MRI-guided prostate-targeted biopsies were able to improve the detection rates of PCa and csPCa. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 3 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 2.