Prostate cancer will account for over 1,200,000 cases and 359,000 deaths annually

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers increasingly reliable visualization of potentially significant prostate cancers and thus has shown advantages as a means by which to better select patients for biopsy and facilitate direct targeting of lesions during biopsy. MRI also provides information for staging tumor extent and monitoring treatment response

The technology of prostate MRI, the new prostate imaging reporting and data system (PI-RADS), and MRI's current and potential clinical applications are reviewed in this topic. The clinical presentation and diagnosis of prostate cancer, the initial staging evaluation, and transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsy are discussed in detail separately