Is the Prostate Cancer Biopsy an Effective Diagnostic Tool?

By Donald Saunders

Despite the fact that there are several different tests which can be carried out if you suspect the possible presence of prostate cancer, the one sure way to diagnose the disease is through a prostate cancer biopsy. But just how successful is the biopsy at confirming this particular disease?

In the United States alone each year there are approximately one million prostate cancer biopsy procedures undertaken of which about 25 percent show the presence of prostate cancer. Of the remaining 75 percent of prostate biopsies however roughly 33 percent produce false negative results. This means that about a quarter of those men being given prostate biopsies are cleared by their biopsy, despite the fact that they are suffering from prostate cancer.

On the face of it therefore it may seem that the prostate cancer biopsy is not a very effective test but the results do not in fact mean that there is anything wrong with the prostate biopsy procedure as a means of confirming the presence of prostate cancer. But, what is does clearly mean is the need to recognize those men who, despite they have returned negative results, are nonetheless at considerable risk from prostate cancer and ought therefore to be given a follow-up biopsy.

The problem is that until recently there has not been a simple method of determining patients who are at risk. Luckily, a recent study of more than five hundred patients being investigated for prostate cancer may now provide an answer.

All of the individuals who took part in the study had already had a negative prostate biopsy result but the researchers discovered that when they studied the men's PSA test results and adjusted these to take account of the size of the prostate they were able to identify those men who were likely to return positive results on a follow-up biopsy.

The researchers also noted that patients with a Gleeson score of 7 or higher were at greater risk from life-threatening prostate cancer and were once again more likely to receive a positive result on a second biopsy. The Gleeson score is measured on a scale from 2 to 10 and a patient's score is calculated from a laboratory investigation of the prostate biopsy tissue. Low scores point to cancer with a relatively low risk of spread while a high score indicates cancer which is far more likely to spread.

There are several different prostate biopsy procedures used now although perhaps the most frequently performed procedure is known as the core needle biopsy. Here a number of tiny samples of tissue are removed from different areas of the prostrate using a biopsy gun which shoots a needle into the selected area and removes the sample within just a fraction of a second. The samples collected are then sent for laboratory examination to find out whether cancer is present and, if it is, to establish just how much of the prostate is affected.

A prostate cancer biopsy is a costly procedure and is one which can be reasonably nerve-racking for the patient. It can also be a fairly painful procedure which can be accompanied by bleeding and the risk of infection. As a result it is important to detect those patients for whom a follow-up biopsy is prudent and to reduce as far as possible the number of unnecessary follow-up biopsies being performed each year.

For More Information:

ProstateProblemCenter.com provides information on everything from sex after prostate biopsy to the therapeutic use of prostate milking.

Article courtesy of www.goarticles.com.