Objective To investigate the value of reduced field-of-view diffusion-weighted imaging (r-FOV DWI) in diagnosing prostate cancer. Methods We retrospectively selected 83 patients with a pathological diagnosis of prostate cancer. All the patients had undergone conventional-FOV DWI（c-FOV DWI）and r-FOV DWI before surgery. Two doctors scored the images on a subjective basis and measured the apparent diffusion coefficient（ADC） of the lesions. MRI data

prostate-specific antigen results

and pathological results were analyzed. Results The sub⁃jective image quality of r-FOV DWI was significantly higher than that of c-FOV DWI（P＜0.05）. The ADC value of lesions measured on r-FOV DWI was lower than that on c-FOV DWI

but there was no significant difference（P>0.001）. When ADC was 1.074 × 10-3 s/mm2 in the c-FOV DWI group

the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis were 81% and 63%

respectively. When ADC was 0.993×10-3 s/mm2 in the r-FOV DWI group

the sensitivity and specificity were 79% and 75%

respectively. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of the two methods were 0.813 and 0.825

respectively

indicating comparable diagnostic performance for prostate cancer（P>0.05）. Conclusion r-FOV DWI has better image quality than c-FOV DWI

and can serve as a more effective ap⁃proach to the diagnosis of prostate cancer.