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TO HEALTH, AND NATIONAL EDITORS:

International Medical Imaging Experts Join Efforts to Advance Prostate

Cancer Care

CONTACT: Jennifer Hilton, +1-917-803-8921

American College of Radiology (ACR), AdMeTech Foundation and European

Society of Urogenital Radiology (ESUR) Create Standards for High

Quality MRI

BOSTON, Feb. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ACR, AdMeTech

Foundation and ESUR announced today a joint effort to create standards

for a high quality prostate MRI and to expedite its transfer of

technologies from laboratories to patients. Standards for the Magnetic

Resonance Prostate Imaging Reporting and Data System (MR PI-RADS) are

modeled after successful efforts in breast cancer care, and are

planning to be released in early 2013.

The goal of this international cooperation is to address the central

challenge in prostate cancer care recently framed by the U.S.

Preventive Services Task Force, American Cancer Society and other

groups - improving early detection while reducing unnecessary biopsies

and treatment. MR PI-RADS will be based on prostate MRI guidelines

developed by ESUR and the work by the AdMeTech Foundation's

International Prostate MRI Working Group.

AdMeTech Foundation has been providing international leadership in

supporting research, development and testing of high-precision

prostate MRI since 1998. AdMeTech's research program has been funded

by the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, U.S. Army

Medical Research, and Materiel Command, Fort Detrick, MD. Dr. Faina

Shtern, President of AdMeTech Foundation said, "In the '90s, the

American College of Radiology led development of the BI-RADS

standardization of breast cancer imaging which transformed women's

health. Over the last several years, ESUR led the way in the

development of proposed clinical reporting guidelines for prostate

MRI. On behalf of AdMeTech Foundation, I would like to thank Dr.

Jeffrey Weinreb of ACR and Jelle Barentsz of ESUR for their leadership

and partnership in PI-RADS standardization of prostate imaging, which

is expected to make a direct and immediate impact on ending the era of

blind prostate cancer care and creating the future of the

image-guided, least invasive and the most cost-effective diagnosis and

treatment."

Dr. Mitchell Schnall, Matthew J. Wilson Professor of Radiology at the

University of PA, a pioneer of the prostate-dedicated MRI, one of the

original recipients of AdMeTech's research support for high-precision

imaging and a Principal Investigator of the American College of

Radiology Imaging Network, stated, "Over the last several years, I

have been watching growing scientific evidence in support of prostate

MRI and its potential to improve patient care in the way which is

strongly reminiscent of the research progress we had seen twenty years

ago in breast cancer imaging. As a man who lost his father to the

complications of prostate cancer and its treatment, I am experiencing

a sense of renewed hope for so many men facing the threat of prostate

cancer every day."

Prostate cancer is the most common major cancer in the United States

and the second most lethal cancer in men. Prostate cancer - diagnosed

in as many as 1 in 6 men - has become even more common than breast

cancer (striking 1 in 8 women). In spite of the magnitude of the

prostate cancer epidemic, prostate cancer has not been recognized as a

public health priority, and men do not have accurate diagnostic tools

akin to life-saving mammograms.

ABOUT AdMeTech Foundation: A Boston-based non-profit organization

providing leadership for ground-breaking programs in research,

education and awareness to advance diagnostic tools for improved early

detection and treatment of prostate cancer. AdMeTech Foundation

gratefully acknowledges the support from the Telemedicine & Advanced

Technology Research Center (TATRC). AdMeTech Foundation's

International Prostate MRI Working Group's research and development

were made possible by grants awarded and managed by the U.S. Army

Medical Research & Materiel Command (USAMRMC) and TATRC, at Fort

Detrick, MD under Contract Numbers: W81XWH-09-0552; DAMD17-03-2-0055;

WX1XWH-11-0077 (www.admetech.org).

ABOUT American College of Radiology: The ACR is a national

professional organization serving more than 34,000 radiologists,

radiation oncologists, interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine

physicians and medical physicists with programs focusing on the

practice of radiology and the delivery of comprehensive health care

services.

ABOUT ESUR: The European Society of Urogenital Radiology (ESUR) was

founded in 1990, to promote high quality science and clinical practice

of urogenital radiology. Members of the ESUR are the world leading

radiologists in urogenital radiology. This society was especially

successful with establishment of guidelines on the safe use of

contrast media and on female genital imaging, and recently on

standardization of prostate MRI.

SOURCE AdMeTech Foundation

-0- 02/08/2012

/Web Site: http://www.admetech.org

CO: AdMeTech Foundation; American College of Radiology; The European Society of Urogenital Radiology; ACR; ESUR

ST: Massachusetts

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