The 2020 Foott Memorial Lecture: Dr Shantanu Kar, Consultant Radiologist,Southampton University Hospitals, 'Prostate Imaging - The Lymington Experience.

The Foott Memorial Lecture meeting of the Society took place at the Ampfield Golf Club on 5th February 2020. The President, Mr Robert Jackson, was in the chair. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. The President then invited Dr Shantanu Kar, Consultant Radiologist to Southampton University Hospitals, to deliver the 2020 Foott Memorial Lecture entitled Prostate Imaging - the Lymington experience. Dr Kar introduced his lecture with more of Dr Foott’s history. He had found in the National Archives Dr Foott’s Naval Record and certificate of death which covered the period from when he joined the Navy in 1886 as Surgeon at the age of 25 until he retired as Fleet Surgeon in1911. He then became a GP in Southampton until his death in 1945. His death certificate recorded the cause as Uraemia due to enlargement of the Prostate. This was a fortuitous finding to introduce a lecture on prostate imaging. Prostate cancer is diagnosed in 47,000 people a year. The annual mortality is 11,700 which is greater than breast cancer. Eighty percent of cases will survive 10 years and in the 50 - 69 age group 95%. Dr Kar said that Lymington has just acquired the most modern of MRI scanners and that multi parametric MRI is the way forward. He showed a series of video sequences and explained about the zones of the prostate gland and P1RADS scoring of tumours. The clarity of the pictures is such that any cancer present can be accurately placed so subsequent biopsy can be aimed; and, more importantly, it will reduce the number of missed cancers. It can also distinguish between the cancers that are invasive and need treatment and those that can just be observed over time. He also considers it accurate enough to exclude cancer of the prostate. He said that TRUS biopsy has too many possible serious complications to be used to exclude cancer on all patients with a raised PSA and the introduction of this technique should reduce the number of biopsies performed. In 2016 Lymington recorded 3500 examinations a year but with the new scanner this is being greatly exceeded.

The President thanked Dr Kar for his most interesting lecture. There being no other business the meeting was closed at 9.55pm.