# PRECISION

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/precision-mri/  
OnCo record `precision-mri` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

PRECISION proved that an MRI first finds more dangerous cancers with fewer biopsies.

## Summary

PRECISION, trial NCT02380027 sponsored by UCL and reported in 2018, proved that doing an MRI first, and biopsying only if the scan is positive, finds more dangerous prostate cancers with fewer biopsies than standard transrectal ultrasound biopsy. It randomised 500 biopsy-naive men with a raised PSA, detected clinically significant cancer in 38 percent with MRI-targeted biopsy against 26 percent with standard biopsy, found fewer insignificant cancers and let 28 percent of men avoid biopsy, changing guidelines worldwide. OnCo links it to multiparametric prostate MRI, MRI-first screening, Mark Emberton and Hashim U. Ahmed, and to the bottleneck of overdiagnosis; its findings were confirmed by PRECISE, MRI-FIRST and the Göteborg-2 screening trial. Whether MRI-first pathways can be delivered at population scale with consistent reading quality is the open question.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: positive
- Last checked: 2026-09-06
- Registry id: NCT02380027
- Phase: 3
- Setting: Biopsy-naive men with raised PSA: MRI-targeted biopsy (biopsy only if MRI positive) vs standard TRUS biopsy
- Sponsor: UCL
- Enrolled: 500
- Result: Clinically significant cancer 38% vs 26%.
- Outcomes: Detection of clinically significant cancer: MRI-targeted biopsy 38% vs Standard TRUS biopsy 26%
- Replication: Confirmed by PRECISE, MRI-FIRST, and the Göteborg-2 screening trial.

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02380027: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT02380027

## Connected records

- cancers: [Localised prostate cancer, very low and low risk](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate-low-risk/), [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/)
- technologies: [Multiparametric prostate MRI (PI-RADS)](https://onco.cc/technologies/mp-mri/), [PSA and MRI-first prostate cancer screening](https://onco.cc/technologies/prostate-screening-psa-mri/)
- people: [Hashim U. Ahmed](https://onco.cc/people/hashim-ahmed/), [Mark Emberton](https://onco.cc/people/mark-emberton/)
- key papers: [PRECISION: MRI-targeted or standard biopsy for prostate cancer diagnosis](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-precision-mri-targeted-biopsy-nejm-2018/)
- terms: [Focal and tissue-preserving treatment of prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/terms/prostate-focal-therapy/)
- bottlenecks: [Overdiagnosis and false alarms](https://onco.cc/bottlenecks/b-overdiagnosis/)

---
JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/precision-mri.json