Video: Prostate Imaging Expert on mp-MRI and PSMA PET scans for Prostate Cancer | Daniel Margolis, MD
2019 PCRI Conference Interviews | Transcript
Hi, I'm Daniel Margolis, Associate Professor of Radiology and Director of Prostate Imaging for Weill-Cornell Medical College. So, I had the great honor to speak to the conference on imaging for prostate cancer, focusing on MRI and PET scans including PSMA.
Which recent advancements in imaging are you excited about?
One of the most exciting developments is the increased availability of PET/MRI. This is a technique that combines PET and MRI at the same time. Both PET and MRI are experiencing a lot of development, and I think both of the technologies separately have some very exciting changes in the pipeline, but PET/MRI allows us to do both of them at the same time.
What are the advantages of PET-MRI?
I think, so, there's a few things that I'm very excited about. Part of it is that the PSMA/PET scan will help us interpret full-body MRI even better. That this is still a relatively new technology and we're learning how to figure out which aspects are most important. So, as an imager, it's very exciting to me personally. For our patients, one of the most exciting parts is the ability to combine the two techniques so that we have the specificity of the PET scan, where is only picks up where there's cancer, and we have the tissue detail of the MRI, and it tells us very accurately how large a tumor is and exactly where it is and what organs it's involving.
How are the most recently developed imaging agents affecting treatment?
So one of the most exciting things, and I know a lot of people are learning more about this, is the use of PSMA not just for diagnosis, but for treatment. The same molecules that we're using for imaging can be attached to other molecules that are deadly to cancer cells and we will probably very soon have the ability to very accurately image prostate cancer with PET scans and based on that plan specific treatments for our patients. Whether it be treating just one area with surgery, radiation, freezing, or multiple sites with a targeted serum therapy that uses PSMA to attack the cancer cells throughout the body.
What developments in imaging are you looking forward to?
One of the things that is going to make a big change in prostate cancer, but also the entirety of health care is the use of artificial intelligence. This is kind of scary because I think we've seen how it can be used as a tool to create a lot of havoc, but in the right hands and with the right kind of scientific rigor, we can use these new techniques as a tool to identify cancer to optimize and personalize treatments and to give us a better understanding of how best to manage our patients.