For many Prostrate cancer patients, imaging scans aren't necessary

 Many men with low-risk prostrate cancer are having unnecessary and expensive imaging tests, while thousands of men with high-risk disease who should get the tests are not.

When men are diagnosed with prostate cancer are classified as low-, intermediate-, or high-risk depending on their life expectancy, overall health status, and tumor characteristics. Current guidelines state that only high-risk men should undergo CT,  MRI and bone scans to determine if their cancer has spread beyond the prostate.

Although those tests may expose men to unnecessary radiation and use resources unnecessarily, the bigger concern is that 39% of men with high-risk disease who should have undergone imaging did not.

So, kindly think twice if such tests are necessary, ask the doctors why it should be done, before exposing yourself to unwanted radiation.