In 2016, Dr Thompson and his research team at St Vincents/ Garvan Institute developed a novel world-first tool enabling men and their urologists to estimate their personalised risk of prostate cancer and determine whether a biopsy is needed.
The ‘risk calculator’ uses a man’s age, PSA, prostate size, findings on rectal examination and MRI findings and past history of prostate biopsies; it then provides a personalised, tailored risk of prostate cancer from 1% - 99%.
This exciting world-first breakthrough has been used by many men and their urologists around the world over the past 5 years to guide decisions about whether a biopsy is justified, i.e. whether the risk of finding cancer is high enough to be worth the risks, costs and side-effects.
Here is a link to the study by Dr Thompson and his research team, published in the British Journal of Urology International (BJUI): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28207981/
Since Dr Thompson and his team published their risk calculator, other research groups in Europe and USA have attempted to develop a similar tool. A new study just published in the prestigious American Journal of Urology in 2020 tested all the available tools, and concluded that the tool developed by Dr Thompson and his team is equally or more accurate than any other tool worldwide, thus it is still the global gold-standard in terms of accuracy.
Here is a link to the new study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31651228/
Dr Thompson and his team are also collaborating with the PROMIS research group in London, another world-leading team in MRI prostate research, to develop an even more advanced tool that could be available as an app or online web-based calculator.