Anterior zone (transition zone and anterior horn of peripheral zone) tumours represent 20–30% of all prostate cancers. Traditional transrectal prostate biopsies fail to sample this area of the prostate gland adequately, thereby underestimating the true extent of anterior zone cancers. This article outlines the behaviour and significance of this entity and discusses investigations that are currently available which may aid in their detection. The implementation of transperineal template-guided prostate biopsies will allow optimal sampling of the anterior zone whilst advances in the field of magnetic resonance imaging allow the use of multiple sequences (T2-weighted, spectroscopy, diffusion weighted and dynamic contrast enhancement) to identify these tumours accurately. Such investigations will result in more accurate risk stratification compared with the current diagnostic pathway, and could lead to improved management in this subset of men.
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