Operator experience did not improve cancer detection with micro-ultrasound in OPTIMUM trial analysis
Retrospective · Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis · 2026-10-31. Number 5 in the UrologyWatch Top 5 for October 31, 2026.
A center-level analysis of the multicenter randomized OPTIMUM trial found that operator experience proxies (case volume, mastery score) did not improve discrimination for detecting clinically significant prostate cancer with micro-ultrasound biopsy; AUC was 0.803 regardless of experience level.
Why it matters: Suggests that enforcing a proficiency threshold (rather than raw volume) before study entry may have minimized learning-curve effects on micro-ultrasound biopsy performance.
Limitation: Secondary analysis of a trial that already required Level 3 proficiency before participation, which may limit generalizability to real-world practice with less vetted operators.
Source: Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis · PubMed 42957822 · DOI 10.1038/s41391-026-01171-y
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