Impact
Our research doesn't end at publication.
We measure success by whether our findings change clinical practice, shape policy, and ultimately improve outcomes for our patients.
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PRECISION
Transformed prostate cancer diagnosis worldwide
PRECISION demonstrated that MRI-targeted biopsy is superior to standard biopsy for detecting clinically significant prostate cancer - while reducing overdiagnosis of harmless disease.
Published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2018, the trial's findings have been incorporated into clinical guidelines across the globe, including those from the European Association of Urology, NICE, and the American Urological Association. Pre-biopsy MRI is now standard of care globally.
For patients, this means fewer unnecessary biopsies, fewer complications, and more accurate diagnoses - fundamentally changing the experience of prostate cancer detection.
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PRIME
Enabling faster, more accessible prostate MRI
PRIME, published in JAMA in 2025, showed that biparametric MRI - a shorter scan without contrast injection - performs as well as full multiparametric MRI for detecting significant prostate cancer.
This finding has immediate implications for healthcare systems globally. With approximately 4 million prostate MRIs performed annually worldwide, adopting biparametric MRI could substantially increase scanner capacity and reduce costs.
Adopted into French national guidelines
The 2025 French Urology Association guidelines now recommend biparametric MRI as an alternative to multiparametric MRI for guiding biopsy decisions - provided image quality and radiologist expertise are maintained.
This represents one of the first major national guideline bodies to formally adopt PRIME's conclusions into clinical recommendations, paving the way for broader international uptake.
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Featured on Channel 4 news
PRIME's findings were covered by Channel 4 News, bringing the research to a national audience and highlighting its implications for prostate cancer screening in the UK.
The broadcast explored how halving scan time and removing the need for contrast injections could transform access to MRI - a major consideration as the NHS evaluates whether to introduce a national screening programme. Amy Rylance from Prostate Cancer UK told viewers that reducing the cost of the diagnostic pathway "can make a huge difference to whether screening is cost-effective."
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GLIMPSE
Enabling faster, more accessible prostate MRI
GLIMPSE, published in Radiology in 2023, revealed that only 32% of MRI scanners in the UK were producing diagnostic-quality prostate images - but that simple, cost-free adjustments to scanner settings could raise this to 97%.
Informing UK health policy
Prostate Cancer UK has incorporated GLIMPSE findings into their national MRI quality improvement programme. The recommendations feature prominently in their policy manifesto, which calls on government to implement these scanner adjustments across all Cancer Alliances.
Better quality scans mean faster, more accurate diagnoses - reducing bottlenecks in the diagnostic pathway and giving men clarity sooner.
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compass@ucl.ac.uk
At COMPASS, decade-long research outputs have proven a track record of pioneering surgical standards in prostate and urology care.
©2025, COMPASS Research Group
