New test at Cromer Hospital could offer earlier prostate cancer diagnosis
It's hoped it will provide people suspected of having the disease with greater certainty
Doctors at the Cromer and District Hospital are to start using a new test to identify suspected cases of prostate cancer.
State-of-the-art equipment is being used at the North Norfolk Macmillan Centre, allowing prostate biopsies to take place in Cromer for the first time.
It can be used to confirm or rule out cancer and would provide greater certainty to local patients.
The Cromer Community and Hospital Friends fundraised to buy new ultrasound equipment to allow the testing to take place.
Utsav Reddy, Consultant Urological Surgeon, said: “The technology is slightly different to that at NNUH and will be a new service for the patients of Cromer and the wider area."
"This ultrasound machine enables us to undertake biopsies under local anaesthetic and we can overlay the MRI image on the real time ultrasound scan to give a more precise biopsy for some men.
"This would not have been feasible without the support of the Cromer Community and Hospital Friends as well as colleagues in Urology, Radiology, Pathology and Cromer Hospital. Thank you to all involved in improving the care of men in Norfolk.
“The aim of the service is to take men through the whole diagnostic pathway in a matter of weeks or sooner, from GP referral to MRI scan and biopsy, which can all take place at Cromer.”