Do it right" - methods to improve prostate cancer screening

Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death in males.

Prostate cancer screening every 2-4-year has been shown to decrease prostate-cancer mortality and opportunistic screening is wide-spread.

In a recent high-impact project, we showed that screening-related over-diagnosis at an initial screen can be mitigated and screening outcomes improved by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), novel blood-based risk prediction and targeted biopsies (STHLM3MRI: Eklund et al NEJM 2021; Nordström et al Lancet Onc 2021).

There are ongoing initiatives for implementing screening, but there are important knowledge gaps on how to design repeat screening, screening interventions and the real-world performance of screening outside trials.The purpose of this project is to provide unique evidence on re-screen methods by completing three work packages (WP) within a three year timeframe.

This includes a prospective paired design study on repeat prostate cancer screening (WP1), studies on optimization of screening interventions (WP2) using retrospective, screen-by-invitation data from the STHLM3MRI project and building a collaborative platform for assessment of real-world outcomes inside and outside a screening program initiative (WP3).Our studies provide vital data on optimal screening intervals and interventions (MRI, biopsy decision aids and biopsy strategies) as well as knowledge on acceptance and performance of prostate cancer screening.