Objective To evaluate the different features in parameters of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) between prostate cancer, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and benign peripheral zone (PZ),to provide the evidence for diagnosis prostate cancer by this technique. Methods To retrospective analysis 48 patients which performed conventional MRI and DKI exams in Air Force General Hospital.16 patients with prostate cancer, 23 patients with BPH and 37 benign PZ were enrolled. The parameters of DKI and ADC were compared using one-way analysis of variance(AVOVA)with patients as a random effect, Post hoc Turkey honestly significant difference(HSD) test for pairwise comparisons were used to determine whether there was any significant difference between prostate cancer, BPH and benign PZ. In addition, receiver operating characteristic(ROC)analyses were performed to evaluate the diagnostic performance of the parameters to discriminate prostate cancer from benign PZ. Results There is a significant difference in the parameters of DKI(MK, Ka, Kr, FA, MD, Da, Dr) and ADC between prostate cancer, BPH and benign PZ(P＜0.001). The parameters of DKI and ADC all showed significant difference between prostate cancer and benign PZ(P＜0.001). MK showed significant difference between prostate cancer and stromal BPH(P＜0.05). MK, Ka, Kr, MD, Da, Dr and ADC showed significant difference between prostate cancer and nonstromal BPH. On the ROC analyses, the AUC of DKI parameters and ADC were all higher than 0.9. Conclusion DKI is the most useful technique in diagnostic differentiation of prostate cancer from BPH and benign PZ.DKI plays a significant role in locating and diagnosing prostate.