Updated NHS guidance says suspected sufferers must be offered a special MRI.
Trials show the scans — which combine four images to create a much clearer picture of the prostate — are 12 per cent more effective at finding tumours than standard tests.
Nearly a third of men given the painless check are given the all-clear.
Around 100,000 prostate cancer biopsies — where tissue samples are taken surgically — are done each year in the UK.
But health policy adviser Nice now says the mpMRI should be the first line of investigation — sparing an estimated 30,000 ops.
Paul Chrisp, of Nice, said: “It will hopefully improve survival, reduce unnecessary surgery and benefit patients and the NHS.”
Prostate cancer affects 47,000 Brits — and kills 11,600. Only half are offered MRIs.
Prof Mark Emberton, of UCL, which pioneered the technique said: “This ends the postcode lottery of MRI provision.”
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