BACKGROUND: The evidence supporting the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in prostate cancer detection has been established, but its accuracy in local staging is questioned. PURPOSE: To investigate the additional value of multi-planar radial reconstructions of a three-dimensional (3D) T2-weighted (T2W) MRI sequence, intercepting the prostate capsule perpendicularly, for improving local staging of prostate cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Preoperative, bi-parametric prostate MRI examinations in 94 patients operated between June 2014 and January 2015 where retrospectively reviewed by two experienced abdominal radiologists. Each patient was presented in two separate sets including diffusion-weighted imaging, without and with the 3D T2W set that included radial reconstructions. Each set was read at least two months apart. Extraprostatic tumor extension (EPE) was assessed according to a 5-point grading scale. Sensitivity and specificity for EPE was calculated and presented as receiver operating characteristics (ROC) with area under the curve (AUC), using histology from whole-mount prostate specimen as gold standard. Inter-rater agreement was calculated for the two different reading modes using Cohen's kappa. RESULTS: The AUC for detection of EPE for Readers 1 and 2 in the two-dimensional (2D) set was 0.70 and 0.68, respectively, and for the 2D + 3D set 0.62 and 0.65, respectively. Inter-rater agreement (Reader 1 vs. Reader 2) on EPE using Cohen's kappa for the 2D and 2D + 3D set, respectively, was 0.42 and 0.17 (i.e. moderate and poor agreement, respectively). CONCLUSION: The addition of 3D T2W MRI with radial reconstructions did not improve local staging in prostate cancer.