Maine Medical Center in Portland is the first hospital in Maine to offer a new diagnostic process for prostate cancers.

Genitourinary cancer program director Matthew Hayn. Photo courtesy of Maine Medical Center

The hospital is using UroNav fusion biopsy system – a technology that combines data from an MRI with that of ultrasound — to identify suspicious lesions in the prostate and precisely target and extract that tissue for testing. The technology helps determine the best course of treatment for men with, or suspected of having, prostate cancer, according to a news releases from the hospital.

“This new technology for patients on active surveillance or with elevated or rising prostate specific antigen levels comes at a time when there is increasing evidence supporting active surveillance for men with low-risk prostate cancer,” said Matthew Hayn, M.D., medical director of MMC’s genitourinary cancer program, in the release. “With this technology, men can be assured that we are recommending a treatment plan based on the most accurate biopsy available today.”

Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in American men and the second-leading cause of cancer death among men. In Maine, about 80 men out of every 100,000 annually will get prostate cancer and 23 will die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.