mpmri scan

Very few stand-alone private clinics would have their own facilities; you will need to look for an NHS hospital that offers mpMRI to Promis standard and also accepts private patients. Some NHS hospitals use the money from a self-funding patient to improve their services for all.

The exception to the above would be the London Clinic https://www.thelondonclinic.co.uk/news/how-3t-mri-technology-is-transforming-prostate-cancer-care 

I and two friends use a London Private Clinic called ‘Santis’. The Professor there did my operation, on the NHS at Guildford, saving me £19,950. I think a scan is around £600-1000. Probably much cheaper in Accra!

Anyway, I think a 3 Tesla HD MP-MRI scan would be much of a muchness as regards imaging wherever you go, and then it’s down to to the radiologist to evaluate the images, usually with a colleague to double check for a second opinion. I got my images on a DVD, which I have never watched!

If you have a bloody big tumour like I had, it would have been picked up on a low-res 1.5T MRI scan. If you happen to have anything untoward or what they say is borderline, don’t let anyone palm you off with a TRUS (‘up the bum’ biopsy), and go for a transperineal / template biopsy instead. Several NHS hospitals have abandoned the TRUS altogether as outdated and with greater risk of infection.

Best of luck.

Cheers, John.

Edited by member 05 Sep 2019 at 13:50  | Reason: Not specified

Thank you all for your advice. I have discovered that there is a 1.5T scanner at a private hospital here and that they do prostate scans. I will meet with my Doctor this coming week and discuss options before making any decisions. If it is feasable it will be far cheaper here I'm sure which may influence my decision. I'm a little surprised he never mentioned the MRI test, anyway I'll see what he says when we meet.

Hi there,

                Thank you all for your advice. I can now report that I have had the MRI scan at PaulStrickland Scanner Centre and received back the report. I can't get to see my Urologist until next week or the next. The reports findings are as follows:

                       One lesion, size 1.5, T2W 5, DWI 5, DCE +, PI-RADS v2 5.

                       Remarks: Possible small volume T3A.

                       Nothing found in Urethra, rectum or seminal vesicles.

     Doesn't sound to good to me, any ideas please?

It not clear whether you would have biopsy and if recommended treatment in UK. (I am not sure how good this is in Ghana nowadays - quite some years since I worked there awhile and was diagnosed with Malaria). I would get your scan put on a disc if you have not yet done as this can be very helpful in placing needles for Biopsy. As john said earlier in this thread, a Template one is more comprehensive than a TRUS with a lower risk of infection. However, the Template one is usually done under general anesthesia (although occasionally with an Epidural) and it would be more expensive.

Usually, treatment options are Surgery or Radiotherapy and if the former is chosen RT may be needed additionally. You would do well to consider these options now so you can consider which you would opt for (assuming both options being open to you) and where you would want any treatment. Usually Hormone Therapy is started before RT and continues anything up to 3 years after it. This normally is given by an injection once every 28 days or once every 3 lunar months. It is often preceded at the very start by a short course of ant-flair tablets. So HT should be no problem in Ghana but RT?

I suggest you download the free'Tool Kit' which provides a lot of basic information about the disease and it's treatment. https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information/our-publications/publications/tool-kit?_ga=2.206109653.795867346.1564408880-1013787081.1564408880

Edited by member 21 Dec 2019 at 03:43  | Reason: to highlight link

No respectable surgeon or oncologist in the UK would put you forward for radical treatment without a biopsy (with the exception perhaps of those who are diagnosed with PSA in the thousands or following serious health conditions that lead to scans showing extensive bone mets)

Let us know the result of the Biopsy and surgery should this be what is decided on. You may be aware that there are several forms of surgery and although there is not much difference in overall success, the Robotic form means a quicker recovery, at least initially but be aware that all call for need for very light duties for maybe a couple of months or more while the internal healing takes place. This applies particularly with regard to lifting things, so you should take this into account in your plans. Also, be aware that some men have problems after surgery that require attention. So please don't consider this is necessarily a quicker route back to normal working than say an intense form of radiotherapy.

Hi all,

          Due to a number of factors I won't go into here, in the end I went for a TRUS biopsy here in Ghana two weeks ago and have now received the results which are as follows;

                   1.  Right lobe prostate:

                     - Benign prostatic hyperplasia with a non-specific chronic prostatitis.

                     - There is no evidence of high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia or infiltrating adenocarcinoma.

                   2.  Left lobe prostate:

                     - Infiltrating prostatic adenocarcinoma corresponding to Gleason combined score 8 (4+4).

                     - There is no evidence of perineural or lymphovascular invasion.

                     - Infiltrating adenocarcinoma is identified wirhin two of seven cores of tissue with a total tumour volume of approximately 5%.

                       As I've only just received the results I haven't seen the doctor yet, I hope to at the end of the week, coronavirus restrictions not withstanding.

                      Any thoughts on my results would be appreciated in the meantime,

                                                                thanks Bill