The correct identification of extracapsular extension (ECE) of prostate cancer (PCa) on multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) is crucial for surgeons in order to plan the nerve-sparing approach in radical prostatectomy. Nerve-sparing strategies allow for better outcomes in preserving erectile function and urinary continence, notwithstanding this can be penalized with worse oncologic results. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of preoperative mpMRI to predict ECE in the final prostatic specimen (PS) and identify other possible preoperative predictive factors of ECE as a secondary end-point. We investigated a database of two high-volume hospitals to identify men who underwent a prostate biopsy with a pre-biopsy mpMRI and a subsequent RP. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of mpMRI in predicting ECE were calculated. A univariate analysis was performed to find the association between image staging and pathological staging. A multivariate logistic regression was performed to investigate other preoperative predictive factors. A total of 1147 patients were selected, and 203 out of the 1147 (17.7%) patients were classified as ECE according to the mpMRI. ECE was reported by pathologists in 279 out of the 1147 PS (24.3%). The PPV was 0.58, the NPV was 0.72, the sensitivity was 0.32, and the specificity was 0.88. The multivariate analysis found that PSA (OR 1.057, C.I. 95%, 1.016-1.100, p = 0.006), digital rectal examination (OR 0.567, C.I. 95%, 0.417-0.770, p = 0.0001), ratio of positive cores (OR 9.687, C.I. 95%, 3.744-25.006, p = 0.0001), and biopsy grade in prostate biopsy (OR 1.394, C.I. 95%, 1.025-1.612, p = 0.0001) were independent factors of ECE. The mpMRI has a great ability to exclude ECE, notwithstanding that low sensitivity is still an important limitation of the technique.
Keywords: extracapsular extension; multiparametric magnetic resonance; prostate cancer; tumor staging.