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Can the chance of nerve sparing be assessed from MRI images?
Prostate Cancer | Last Active: Aug 31, 2025 | Replies (15)Comment receiving replies
Yes, a prostate MRI can help surgeons determine whether nerves can be spared during a prostatectomy, and it is a crucial tool for surgical planning. The decision is based on whether the cancer appears to have spread beyond the prostatic capsule (extracapsular extension) and into the nearby neurovascular bundles (NVBs), which are critical for erectile function.
This article discusses it
https://ajronline.org/doi/full/10.2214/AJR.17.18757.
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Hi Jeff, thank you for your response. My MRI interpretation report does state that there are no signs of extracapsular extension. Besides this very relevant information, as you indicate, would the MRI images serve the Urologist to understand if the locations of the identified tumors are close to the nerves or not?
I assume that if these tumors or lesions are right next to the nerves then there is less likelihood of sparing but if they are located away from the nerves then it is more likely that the nerves could be spared. If this is correct, should I request to my Urologist that we review these MRI images in detail to understand the location of the tumors and how close or far they are from the nerves?