Dr. Savvas Mendrinos, pathologist at Integrated Medical Professionals, was awarded the second place prize for his abstract on the histologic features of prostate cancer and detectability at the annual meeting of the Society of Uroradiology. The study was conducted in collaboration with the department of Radiology and Urology of NYU’s School of Medicine, while Dr. Mendrinos was faculty in their Pathology Department.
The Society of Uroradiology is organized to promote interest and investigation in the advancement of urinary and genital tract imaging, and to stimulate the study of both normal and abnormal processes. The organization’s emphasis is the integration of current imaging and interventional practice. Membership is offered to physicians and other scientists who have an interest in the practice, teaching, or research of genitourinary imaging. The conference was held March 20 – 25, 2011 at the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, California.
Dr. Mendrinos’ abstract looked at how predictable the aggressiveness of prostate cancer is via biopsy, MRI and subsequent prostatectomy (surgical removal of all or part of the prostate gland). Patients who had a positive biopsy result were given an MRI, followed by a prostatectomy. Dr. Mendrinos mapped out the entire prostatectomy specimens and cataloged the Gleason score (rating system which tells how closely a prostate tumor resembles normal prostate tissue; the lower the number, the lower grade the cancer). Dr. Mendrinos’ findings were compared to the patient’s pre-prostatectomy MRI and biopsy. He found that visible tumors were those larger than 6mm with a persistent growth of dense fibrous tissue around the tumor, and a Gleason score of 7 and higher. Tumors with a Gleason score of 6 were not visible by MRI, unless they were larger than 6mm with aggressive activity in the fibrous tissue surrounding it.
This study’s significance is that the aggressive and clinically important tumors can be detected by doing a post or even a pre-biopsy MRI in clinically high risk patients. If the post biopsy MRI is negative, it is likely the disease in the prostate is low grade. This critical information can be instrumental in developing the standard of care protocols for watchful waiting vs. active treatment.