Prostate cancer is diagnosed by a biopsy through which a sample of tissue from the body is examined. Sometimes with this technique the cancer can be missed if none of the needles used reach the affected tissue, in what is known as a false negative. If the physician suspects this to be the case, a repeat biopsy may be necessary.
The main technique for diagnosing prostate cancer is core needle biopsy, in which a sample of tissue is removed from the body and viewed under a microscope. The test takes about 10 minutes and can be performed in the doctor’s office. Urology specialists say that in order to reduce the risk of infection, antibiotics are likely to be administered before the biopsy and one or two days afterward.
Fusion prostate cancer biopsy
Fusion systems are facilitating the diagnosis of prostate cancer by allowing the fusion of images between Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging and transrectal ultrasound to allow biopsy guidance. Until now, urologists have not been able to use this information effectively when performing this test.
Thus, with multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging we obtain images of the prostate where we can appreciate the areas of the prostate where it is suspected that there could be a tumor. These images are then introduced into an adapted ultrasound scanner that allows us to mark the areas of the prostate that may be affected. Finally, the biopsy is performed via the perineum – avoiding the rectum.
With this technique, the accuracy of the final results is more than doubled, and only two essential punctures are made, aimed directly at the area that may be affected.
Prostate cancer treatment
The treatment of prostate cancer can put an end to the disease, although it can also be that it remits and after some time it reappears.
On the other hand, if prostate cancer is not treated, it can spread through the blood and lymph nodes to other parts of the body, such as the bones, bladder, rectum, liver, lungs or brain. Even so, it is estimated that 9 out of 10 patients have localized prostate cancer, i.e. it does not spread.
The best treatment for localized prostate cancer is still unknown; both the diagnosis and possible treatments depend on many factors. That is why when a man is diagnosed with this pathology he is evaluated as “low risk” or “early stage”, and goes through an initial period of uncertainty in which he will need information and advice.
Risks of prostate cancer treatment
- If the patient chooses a radical option, he will have to accept the possibility of suffering side effects that may alter his quality of life, such as erectile dysfunction or urinary incontinence.
- On the contrary, by choosing the “active surveillance” approach, the patient must accept living with prostate cancer and undergo clinical examinations, biopsies, etc. for a period of time.
The patient will start treatment when the urologist assesses that the cancer has progressed and that the time has come to intervene. However, often the patient does not want to wait for the diagnosis to start treatment to avoid side effects.