Prostate cancer staging

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in the UK.The majority of patients have no symptoms and are detected with routine prostate-specific antigen testing.Transrectal ultrasound can diagnose the primary tumour but its main role is in guiding biopsy to obtain a histological diagnosis.MRI is used to stage the primary tumour and to detect local nodal disease.CT should be used in patients with metastatic disease to assess complications and to plan radiotherapy. The diagnosis of prostate cancer is suggested by elevated prostate-specific antigen but is confirmed by histopathological examination of ultrasound-guided transrectal biopsies. Recent NICE guidelines have made specific recommendations regarding imaging, and this review focuses on the value of existing imaging modalities in the staging of prostate cancer.