THE FIRST trials that could revolutionise the way prostate cancer is diagnosed have taken place in Southampton.

Doctors in the city are leading the way in developing a new approach to how medics can detect the killer disease.

Surgeons at Southampton General Hospital are taking part in a nationwide trial involving advanced MRI scans.

And if it works it could mean the end of invasive biopsies that are not 100 per cent accurate.

Traditionally men with suspected prostate cancer initially have a blood test, followed by an ultrasound (TRUS) biopsy if a high level of protein is found.

This involves using an ultrasound probe to guide a needle through the rectum into the prostate gland to take samples – but it does not always detect the disease.

Tim Dudderidge, consultant urological surgeon at the General, said the MRI scans could be a far more accurate test with much less difficulty.

He said: “These biopsies can miss cancers in some areas of the prostate which the needle cannot reach, or pick up tiny traces of cancer that might be slow-growing and harmless, leading to men having unnecessary surgery to remove the prostate gland.”

He added: “If, as we think, the study shows us that (MP) MRI can accurately identify those who have cancer and those who don’t, it will truly revolutionise diagnosis for men with prostate cancer.

“It will mean those with a negative scan will avoid undergoing potentially painful and invasive biopsies, while those with positive scans will benefit from their specialists having much greater detail of their cancer at the earliest possible stage.”

Nine hospitals across the country are involved in the Prostate MRI Imaging Study (PROMIS) and are recruiting 700 people to take part over the next year.

Those who take part will have a scan performed by radiographers at Spire Southampton Hospital but will also undergo a biopsy at Southampton General.

Prostate cancer, which mainly affects men over 50, is the most common type of cancer in men, with around 37,000 new cases diagnosed in the UK every year