Prostate cancer imaging by DCE-US

Introduction In the United States, prostate cancer (PCa) accounts for 29% and 9% of all cancer diagnoses and deaths in males, respectively [1]. Despite the availability of efficient focal therapies, their use is hampered by a lack of reliable imaging for PCa localization and therapy targeting. Contrast-ultrasound dispersion imaging (CUDI) has been proposed as a new alternative method for PCa localization based on dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasound (DCE-US) data [2, 3]. Different from other DCE-US methods for cancer localization, invariably based on the assessment of blood perfusion, the intravascular dispersion of ultrasound contrast agents is directly influenced by the angiogenic changes that occur in the microvascular architecture feeding PCa. Angiogenic processes and microvascular changes play a fundamental role in cancer growth [4, 5]; their detection can therefore support with the assessment of cancer aggressiveness and, therefore, with therapy decision making [5].