Accurate Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Depends on Biopsy Location

NEW YORK, NY -- September 28, 2007 --
The part of the prostate that is biopsied may matter more than the
number of biopsy samples taken for accurately diagnosing prostate
cancer, according to a study by researchers at SUNY Upstate Medical
University. The study is published in the Oct. 3 edition of the Journal
of the National Cancer Institute.

It is difficult to know whether prostate biopsies are correctly
identifying prostate cancer because men with prostate biopsies do not
usually undergo surgery to have their prostates removed.

To determine the accuracy of prostate biopsies, Gabriel Haas, MD,
professor of urology at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse and
colleagues performed biopsies on prostates from 164 deceased men who had
no history of prostate cancer. Biopsies were taken from various areas of
the prostate in an attempt to mirror the way biopsies are performed on
live patients.

Almost 30% of the prostates had cancer cells, and 43% of those were
clinically significant cancers as defined by tissue characteristics.
Cancer detection depended more on the part of the prostate that was
biopsied than on the number of samples that were taken.

"This information... can assist the clinician to design the appropriate
biopsy regimen to detect clinically significant cancers that pose
biologic risk and avoid the overdiagnosis of clinically insignificant
cancers that would be unlikely to have an adverse effect on the
patient," the authors write.

SOURCE: SUNY Upstate Medical University

knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional
"Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc

c palmer wrote:
> NEW YORK, NY -- September 28, 2007 --
> The part of the prostate that is biopsied may matter more than the
> number of biopsy samples taken for accurately diagnosing prostate
> cancer, according to a study by researchers at SUNY Upstate Medical
> University. The study is published in the Oct. 3 edition of the Journal
> of the National Cancer Institute.
>
> It is difficult to know whether prostate biopsies are correctly
> identifying prostate cancer because men with prostate biopsies do not
> usually undergo surgery to have their prostates removed.
>
> To determine the accuracy of prostate biopsies, Gabriel Haas, MD,
> professor of urology at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse and
> colleagues performed biopsies on prostates from 164 deceased men who had
> no history of prostate cancer. Biopsies were taken from various areas of
> the prostate in an attempt to mirror the way biopsies are performed on
> live patients.
>
> Almost 30% of the prostates had cancer cells, and 43% of those were
> clinically significant cancers as defined by tissue characteristics.
> Cancer detection depended more on the part of the prostate that was
> biopsied than on the number of samples that were taken.

It wasn't the focus of the study, but these figures seem to contradict
the idea that "every man has prostate cancer" after a certain age. It
is true that 30 percent showed evidence of cancer cells, but only 43
percent of those or about 13 percent all told had clinically significant
cancer. Of course, we don't know the ages of the men autopsied, but if
they represented a typical sample of deceased men, they would have
largely been older men. It does suggest that a sizable number of older
men may have undiagnosed, clinically significant prostate cancer, but it
is far from all such men or even a majority.

>
> "This information... can assist the clinician to design the appropriate
> biopsy regimen to detect clinically significant cancers that pose
> biologic risk and avoid the overdiagnosis of clinically insignificant
> cancers that would be unlikely to have an adverse effect on the
> patient," the authors write.
>
> SOURCE: SUNY Upstate Medical University
>
> knowledge is power - growing old is mandatory - growing wise is optional
> "Many more men die with prostate cancer than of it. Growing old is
> invariably fatal. Prostate cancer is only sometimes so."
> http://community.webtv.net/PALMER_ENT/doc
>