A St Vincent’s-led trial is looking at transforming the process to diagnose prostate cancer You are here:HomeNewsroomNews A St Vincent’s-led trial is looking at transforming the process to diagnose prostate cancer 13 Aug 2021 The multi-centered clinical trial known as PRIMARY, is being led by Professor Louise Emmett, Director Theranostics and Nuclear Medicine at St Vincent’s. The project focuses on evaluating the efficacy of adding the PSMA PET technology to traditional MRI, to improve the diagnosis of prostate cancer. The trial found that PSMA PET does indeed improve the ability of MRI to isolate malignancies that must be treated, while helping identify those cancers that are less significant and don't require invasive treatment. Thereby reducing the number of unnecessary and intrusive prostate biopsies, and simultaneously enhancing the detection of aggressive cancers for treatment. This discovery is expected to change current clinical practice in the diagnosis and treatment for prostate cancers. This is great news for men’s health. “I’m really proud of this trial and the collaboration with my peers that made this happen. It’s been a real team effort, and the net result is this practice-changing research that will have a very real and beneficial impact on the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer", said Prof Emmett. The trial, which is set for publication in European Urology, was funded through grants from the St Vincent's Campus, including the St Vincent’s Curran Foundation, St Vincent's Clinic Foundation, Maridulu Budyari Gumal SPHERE (Supporting Leading Better Value Care Grants Scheme), and a translational prostate cancer grant from CINSW. It is the result of highly collaborative work between St Vincent's Public, St Vincent's Clinic, the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Royal Brisbane Hospital and Women's Hospital, Brisbane and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne. Professor Louise Emmett