Is The Prostate Cancer Biopsy An Effective Diagnostic Tool?

Though there are a variety of different tests that can be carried out if prostate cancer is suspected, the only certain way to confirm the condition is the prostate biopsy. But exactly how efficient is the biopsy at diagnosing this condition?

In the US alone each year there are about 1,000,000 prostate biopsies performed of which approximately 25 percent show the existence of prostate cancer. However, of the other 75 percent of prostate biopsies about one-third produce false negative results. This means that about 25 percent of all men being given prostate biopsies are cleared by this test, notwithstanding the fact that they actually have prostate cancer.

At first sight therefore it may seem that the prostate biopsy is not a very effective test but these results do not show that there is anything wrong with the biopsy as a method of identifying prostate cancer. What it does clearly show however is that there is a need to identify those patients who, in spite of returning negative results, are nonetheless at high risk from prostate cancer and ought therefore to have a follow-up biopsy.

The problem is that until recently there has not been an easy way of determining patients who are at risk. Luckily, a study of over 500 individuals being investigated for prostate cancer might now provide an answer.

All of the patients who took part in the study had previously had a negative prostate biopsy result but the researchers discovered that when they studied the men's PSA test results and these were adjusted to take account of the size of the prostate gland they could identify those patients who were likely to receive a positive result on a second biopsy.

In addition, the researchers found that men who had a Gleeson score of 7 or more were at greater risk from life-threatening prostate cancer and were once again more likely to produce a positive result on a second biopsy. The Gleeson score runs on a scale between 2 and 10 and a patient's score is found from a laboratory investigation of the prostate biopsy tissue. Low scores point to a cancer with a low risk of spread while high scores point to a cancer that is much more likely to spread.

There are a variety of different prostate biopsy procedures in use today although possibly the most often used procedure is the core needle biopsy. Here several very small samples of tissue are taken from different areas of the prostrate gland with a biopsy gun that shoots a needle into the selected section and removes the sample within a fraction of a second. The samples collected are then sent for laboratory analysis to determine whether or not cancer is present and, if so, to work out exactly how much of the prostate gland is affected.

The prostate biopsy is an expensive procedure and is one that can be relatively nerve-racking for the patient. It can also be a quite painful procedure that can involve bleeding and a risk of infection. As a result it is in everyone's interest to spot those individuals for whom a second biopsy would be sensible and to reduce the number of unnecessary follow-up biopsies being performed each year.

ProstateProblemCenter.com provides information on everything from the prostate biopsy to the therapeutic use of self prostate massage