A simple ten-minute scan picks up twice as many serious prostate cancer cases as the existing test, research published today suggests.

Using a quick MRI scan produces far better results in identifying cases than the prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, blood test, according to the study.

Under current guidelines, men with a PSA reading of below 3 nanograms per millilitre would be considered low risk for prostate cancer and not referred for further investigations. 

But more than half of the men in the trial whose MRI scan identified an abnormality and were then diagnosed with prostate cancer serious enough to need treatment had a PSA below 3.

The study was also the first to measure PSA ‘density’ – a figure based on the PSA level from a blood test compared with the volume of the prostate gland. 

Experts think this is more accurate because PSA levels and the size of the prostate increase with age. 

The standard PSA test can lead to older men being wrongly told they are at risk because their PSA is raised.

Scientists involved in the study, called REIMAGINE, believe the ten-minute MRI, combined with PSA density, could revolutionise prostate cancer diagnosis and possibly lead to a national screening programme for the disease.

Caroline Moore, a professor of urology at University College London and consultant at University College London Hospital who led the research, said: ‘The thought that over half of the men with clinically significant cancer had a PSA less than 3ng/ml – and would have been reassured that they didn’t have cancer – is a sobering one and reiterates the need to consider a new approach to screening.

‘Our results give an early indication that MRI could offer a more reliable method of detecting potentially serious cancers early.’

Each year, 52,000 men in the UK are diagnosed with the cancer, and more than 12,000 die of it.

The standard PSA test remains the most common way of seeing who needs further testing, despite it being unreliable. 

This leads to some having unnecessary tests, and those with cancer being diagnosed late. 

In the new study, 303 men aged 50 to 75 had a ten-minute MRI scan of the prostate as well as a PSA density test.

The MRI suggested 16 per cent – 48 men – were at risk of cancer, yet two thirds of these men had a PSA under 3.

More detailed scans showed 25 of these men had cancer serious enough to need treatment, 15 of whom would not have been picked up by a standard PSA test.

Separately, the PSA density test identified a further 16 men at risk of prostate cancer of whom four were found to have disease that needed treatment.

Young people saddled with vast student debts and struggling to get onto the housing ladder are being lured to invest in ‘get rich quick’ crypto schemes, a top funds manager has warned.

A survey by Schroders found that 68 per cent of financial advisers were concerned about young people investing in crypto and digital assets, more than three times higher compared with last year.

It comes after recent figures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) showed the number of people investing –despite the watchdog warning they should be prepared to lose all their money – more than doubled to 5 million last year.

In some cases the concern expressed by financial advisers in the Schroders survey were because older clients are worried about their children frittering away their ‘hard earned cash’.

Gillian Hepburn, Schroders’ head of UK intermediary solutions, said it was no surprise people were investing in crypto with student debts topping £45,000, adding: ‘Who might not fall prey to get rich quick schemes if that’s what pressure they are under?’

The survey also revealed how savers were affected by the cost of living, and that 89 per cent of advisers had clients who adjusted their plans as a result of it.

The FCA figures showed crypto was most likely to be owned by men under the age of 45. More than half of adults aged 18-24 hold less than £100 while those aged 45 and above are more likely than other age groups to hold more than £1,000 worth or above.