Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-20-2024

Comments

This article is the author's final published version in Current Oncology, Volume 31, Issue 8, August 2024, Pages 4746 - 4752.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol31080354.

Copyright © 2024 by the authors

Abstract

Imaging for prostate cancer defines the extent of disease. Guidelines recommend against imaging low-risk prostate cancer patients with a computed tomography (CT) scan or bone scan due to the low probability of metastasis. We reviewed imaging performed for men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer across the Pennsylvania Urologic Regional Collaborative (PURC), a physician-led data sharing and quality improvement collaborative. The data of 10 practices were queried regarding the imaging performed in men diagnosed with prostate cancer from 2015 to 2022. The cohort included 13,122 patients with 3502 (27%) low-risk, 2364 (18%) favorable intermediate-risk, 3585 (27%) unfavorable intermediate-risk, and 3671 (28%) high-risk prostate cancer, based on the AUA guidelines. Amongst the low-risk patients, imaging utilization included pelvic MRI (59.7%), bone scan (17.8%), CT (16.0%), and PET-based imaging (0.5%). Redundant imaging occurred in 1022 patients (29.2%). There was variability among the PURC sites for imaging used in the low-risk patients, and iterative education reduced the need for CT and bone scans. Approximately 15% of low-risk patients had staging imaging performed using either a CT or bone scan, and redundant imaging occurred in almost one-third of men. Such data underscore the need for continued guideline-based education to optimize the stewardship of resources and reduce unnecessary costs to the healthcare system.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Language

English

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