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A new tool is being developed at the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies that can instantaneously detect whether tissue is cancerous or not.
This would be a vast improvement over the current method, which isn't all that accurate and - as any guy over 40 will tell you - is very invasive.
Dodd-Walls Centre principal investigator and senior research fellow at the University of Auckland physics department Dr Claude Aguergaray talks to Jesse.
Photo: 123RF
He said that the current method can be both traumatising and have side-effects for the patient.
However, it's a disease that is especially serious in New Zealand which is among the worst-affected countries for the incidence rate of prostate cancer and also ranks near the top for its deaths, with about 600 patients dying and around 3000 new cases annually.
"The disease represents about 16 percent of the burden on the health system for all cancers."
The mortality rate for Māori is about 10 percent higher compared with non-Māori men.
Studies have shown that Māori men are being offered less opportunity to be screened, he said, and it was important the health system was aware of and working towards reducing the inequity.
Dr Aguergaray has helped with the development of a tiny probe that can be inserted into the prostate, grab a piece of tissue and make an instant diagnosis.
The instruments are less than a millimetre wide - the equivalent of five or six human hairs.
A clinical trial is being run in Manukau in Auckland at present and is showing that the probes can identify cancers well, especially aggressive cancers, using the biopsies that have already been collected.
Phase one of the trial will continue this year before a move into phase two where the probes will be used directly on men.
The results will be compared directly with the results from biopsies sent to labs.
"Prostate cancer is a major issue worldwide, and even more so in New Zealand, so being able to develop tools that will be less invasive and that will expedite diagnosis is very important."