Ultrasound-guided transrectal extended prostate biopsy： a prospective study

AIM: To evaluate the diagnostic value of the 10 systematic transrectal ultrasound-guided (TRUS) prostate biopsy compared with the sextant biopsy technique for patients with suspected prostate cancer. Methods: One hundred and fifty-two patients with suspected prostate cancer were included in the study. Patients were entered in the study because they presented with high levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA) (over 4 ng/mL) and/or had undergone an abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE). In addition to sextant prostate biopsy cores, four more biopsies were obtained from the lateral peripheral zone with additional cores from each suspicious area revealed by transrectal ultrasound. Sextant, lateral peripheral zone and suspicious area biopsy cores were submitted separately to the pathological department. Results: Cancer detection rates were 27.6% (42/152) and 19.7% (30/152) for the 10-core and sextant core biopsy protocols, respectively. Adding the lateral peripheral zone (PZ) to the sextant prostate biopsy showed a 28.6% (12/42) increase in the cancer detection rate in patients with positive prostate cancer (P < 0.01). The cancer detection rate in patients who presented with elevated PSA was 29.3% (34/116). When serum PSA was 4-10 ng/mL TRUS-guided biopsy detected cancer in 20.6%, while the detection rate was 32.4% and 47.0% when serum PSA was 10-20 ng/mL and above 20 ng/mL, respectively. Conclusion: The 10 systematic TRUS-guided prostate biopsy improves the detection rate of prostate cancer by 28.6% when compared with the sextant biopsy technique alone, without increase in the morbidity. We therefore recommend the 10-core biopsy protocol to be the preferred method for early detection of prostate cancer.     

Cancer detection rates of different prostate biopsy regimens in patients with renal failure

We aimed to evaluate the cancer detection rates of 6-, 10-, 12-core biopsy regimens and the optimal biopsy protocol for prostate cancer diagnosis in patients with renal failure. A total of 122 consecutive patients with renal failure underwent biopsy with age-specific prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels up to 20?ng/mL. The 12-core biopsy technique (sextant biopsy?+?lateral base, lateral mid-zone, lateral apex, bilaterally) performed to all patients. Pathology results were examined separately for each sextant, 10-core that exclude parasagittal mid-zones from 12-cores (10a), 10-core that exclude apex zones from 12-cores (10b) and 12-core biopsy regimens. Of 122 patients, 37 (30.3%) were positive for prostate cancer. The cancer detection rates for sextant, 10a, 10b and 12 cores were 17.2%, 29%, 23.7% and 30.7%, respectively. Biopsy techniques of 10a, 10b and 12 cores increased the cancer detection rates by 40%, 27.5% and 43.2% among the sextant technique, respectively. Biopsy techniques of 10a and 12 cores increased the cancer detection rates by 17.1% and 21.6% among 10b biopsy technique, respectively. There were no statistical differences between 12 core and 10a core about cancer detection rate. Adding lateral cores to sextant biopsy improves the cancer detection rates. In our study, 12-core biopsy technique increases the cancer detection rate by 5.4% among 10a core but that was not statistically different. On the other hand, 12-core biopsy technique includes all biopsy regimens. We therefore suggest 12-core biopsy or minimum 10-core strategy incorporating six peripheral biopsies with elevated age- specific PSA levels up to 20?ng/mL in patients with renal failure.     

An extended 10-core transrectal ultrasonography guided prostate biopsy protocol improves the detection of prostate cancer

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy of TRUS guided 10-core biopsy strategy for Turkish patients who had biopsy of the prostate for the first time. METHODS: Between February 2001 and May 2003, 303 consecutive men with suspected prostate cancer were included in the study. Indications for TRUS guided prostate biopsy were: abnormal digital rectal examination and/or a serum PSA over 2.5 ng/ml. All of the patients underwent a 10-core biopsy protocol with additional core from the each suspicious area detected by TRUS. Besides the sextant technique, 4 more biopsies were obtained from the lateral peripheral zone. We aimed to analyze whether cancer detection improved with the extended versus the standard sextant biopsy in our series overall and in each subgroup. RESULTS: Of 303 patients 94 (31%) were positive for prostate cancer. Median age and PSA of prostate cancer patients were significantly higher than of the non-cancer patients. Besides prostate volumes of the cancer patients were significantly lower than of the non-cancer ones. The cancer detection rates were 31% (94/303) and 23.1% (70/303) for the 10-core biopsy strategy and sextant biopsy strategies, respectively. Thus the 10-core biopsy technique increased cancer detection rate by 25.5% (24/94) for the whole group of patients. A statistically significant number of additional cancers were detected with 10-core biopsy strategy for all the subgroups of the patients. Furthermore 10-core biopsy protocol detected more cancers (at least 6.4%) than all the probable different combinations of 8-core biopsy protocols. Among the 94 cancer patients, biopsy from a suspicious area revealed cancer in 31.9% of them; however, in all of these patients cancer was already present in the 10-core biopsy. On the other hand, lesion biopsies revealed 5.7% additional cancers if sextant technique was used. There were only 3 (0.9%) serious complications requiring hospitalization and all 3 were infections controlled by appropriate antibiotics. CONCLUSION: Adding 4 lateral peripheral biopsies to the conventional sextant biopsy (10-core biopsy strategy) technique has increased the cancer detection rate by 25.5% without significant morbidity and without increasing the number of insignificant cancers. 10-core biopsy protocol was superior to all probable 8-core biopsy protocols in our study group. Additional biopsies from suspicious areas detected by transrectal ultrasonography revealed no further benefit if 10-core technique was used. We therefore suggest that 10-core biopsy protocol should be the preferred strategy in early detection of prostate cancer.     

超声引导下前列腺12针系统穿刺活检增加前列腺癌检出率的研究

目的:探讨不同年龄及前列腺特异性抗原(PSA)分组对12针穿刺活检前列腺癌检出率及肿瘤特征的影响。方法:临床表现怀疑前列腺癌患者210例,按照患者的年龄分为≤59岁组、60～69岁组、70～79岁组、≥80岁组,按照PSA水平分为0～4μg/L组、4.1～10μg/L组、10.1～20μg/L组、20.1～50μg/L组、>50μg/L组,记录患者临床资料及活检结果。提出不同的穿刺方案并计算其检出率。结果:210例怀疑为前列腺癌患者,检出前列腺癌91例,总的前列腺癌检出率为43.3%,随着年龄的增长,PSA水平的提高,检出率逐渐提高。年龄的增长、PSA水平的提高与体积较大、分级较高的肿瘤密切相关。外周带穿刺与旁正中矢状尖部穿刺有较高的前列腺癌检出率。当患者年龄<60岁,PSA水平<20μg/L时,12针穿刺活检为较佳方案。结论:12针穿刺活检可以弥补6针穿刺活检的缺陷,随着患者年龄的增长,PSA水平的提高,肿瘤的体积增大、病理分级较差。传统6针穿刺法与12针相比,受患者年龄、PSA水平的影响较大。     

Does transrectal ultrasound guided eight‐core prostate biopsy improve cancer detection rates in patients with prostate‐specific antigen levels of 4.1–10 ng/mL?

BACKGROUND: To investigate retrospectively whether the eight-core biopsy method improves the prostate cancer detection rate when compared with the standard sextant biopsy method in patients with prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels of 4.1-10 ng/mL. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Of 437 patients whose PSA levels ranged from 4.1 to 10 ng/mL, 237 underwent a transrectal ultrasound guided sextant biopsy (sextant group), and 200 underwent an eight-core biopsy (eight-core group). Eight core samples were obtained from each of the far lateral regions in addition to the standard sextant biopsy cores. None of the patients had a previous history of prostate biopsy. RESULTS: Of the 237 patients in the sextant group, prostate cancer was detected in 47 patients (19.8%) and in 50 of the 200 patients in the eight- core group (25.0%). The rates of detection in the two methods were not statistically significant. However, in patients whose PSA density was less than 0.1 ng/mL per cc, the cancer detection rates in the sextant group and the eight-core group were 4.5% and 18.8%, respectively (P = 0.046). The morbidity and complications of the eight-core biopsy method were not notable. CONCLUSIONS: Only in patients with PSA levels of 4.1-10 ng/mL and density of less than 0.1 ng/mL per cc was the eight-core biopsy method an improvement on the sextant biopsy method in terms of prostate cancer detection rate. Accordingly, a number of cores greater than eight will be required to improve the cancer detection rates in patients with PSA levels of 4.1-10 ng/mL and PSA densities of more than 0.1 ng/mL per cc.     

Is extended 11-core biopsy valuable in benign prostatic hyperplasia patients with intermediate serum prostate-specific antigen (4.1-10 ng/ml) and prior negative sextant biopsy?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the importance of extended 11-core biopsy in benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients with intermediate prostate-specific antigen (PSA; 4.1-10 ng/ml) and prior negative sextant biopsy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 381 BPH patients with intermediate PSA (4.1-10 ng/ml) and prior negative sextant biopsy underwent extended 11-core biopsy, which included conventional sextant biopsy in addition to five cores from three alternative sites. Two cores were taken from the right and left anterior horns of the peripheral zone (PZ), two from the right and left anterior transition zones (TZs) and one from the midline of the PZ. Overall, 315 patients were subjected to transurethral resection of the prostate (n = 272) or open prostatectomy (n = 43). RESULTS: Repeat 11-core biopsy revealed prostate cancer in 66/381 cases (17.3%). The distribution of positive cores on repeat 11-core biopsy was as follows: sextant biopsy sites only in 50% of cases (33/66); alternative sites only in 31.8% (21/66); and sextant plus alternative biopsy sites in 18.2% (12/66). The anterior horn of the PZ was the most frequently positive alternative site (25/33; 75.8%), followed by the TZ (5/33; 15.2%), while the midline site was involved in 9% of cases (3/33). Eleven-core biopsy had a significantly better cancer detection rate compared to sextant biopsy when digital rectal examination was normal (p = 0.009), prostate volume was in the range 30-50 cm (p = 0.033) and PSA density was > or =0.15 (p = 0.024). Six cancer cases out of 315 (1.9%) were diagnosed as a result of the definitive pathology. The sensitivity of 11-core biopsy was 91.6%, compared to 62.5% for sextant biopsy (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: An extended 11-core biopsy protocol is valuable in BPH patients with intermediate PSA (4.1-10 ng/ml) and prior negative sextant biopsy as it significantly improved the overall detection rate in our study by 32% (p = 0.019).     

The utility of apical anterior horn biopsies in prostate cancer detection

We sought to determine the utility of adding apical anterior horn biopsies to systematic prostate sampling regimens in detecting cancer in men with measured prostate volume < or =50 cc. We reviewed the biopsy data of consecutive men referred for an abnormal digital rectal exam or PSA elevation > or =4.0 ng/mL. All of these patients underwent lesion directed biopsy as well as a systematic 12-core biopsy regimen consisting of the standard sextant, bilateral lateral mid- and lateral base-sites, and bilateral apical anterior horn sites. Overall cancer detection and unique cancer detection rates were calculated for each of the 12 sites, stratified by race, age, PSA, and findings on digital rectal exam. In addition, cancer detection rates of various biopsy schemes were calculated and compared. There were 255 men undergoing biopsy who had calculated prostate volume < or =50 cc, and the prostate cancer detection rate was 47%. The overall cancer detection rate of apical anterior horn biopsies ranged between 29% and 56%. The utility of these biopsies was greatest in men with normal rectal exam and PSA <10 ng/mL, with unique cancer detection rates of 6% and 4%, respectively. Including the apical anterior horn biopsies in an 8-biopsy scheme (anterior, apex, lateral mid, lateral base) yielded cancer detection rates greater than 91% in all subgroups that were not statistically different from extended 10- and 12-core biopsy regimens. Apical anterior horn prostate biopsies target cancers that are potentially in the anterior region of the prostate, a region under-sampled using traditional schemes. The use of these biopsies as part of an 8-core biopsy pattern provides high cancer detection in all groups of patients and may represent a new standard.     

8点及12点前列腺穿刺活检诊断前列腺癌的价值比较研究

目的比较8点及12点前列腺穿刺活检诊断前列腺癌的价值,分析前列腺特异性抗原(PSA)、前列腺特异性抗原密度(PSAD)及前列腺体积(PV)对前列腺癌检出率(PCDR)的影响。方法回顾性分析260例因PSA异常增高而接受首次直肠超声引导下前列腺穿刺活检的患者相关资料,其中132例患者接受8点穿刺,128例患者接受12点穿刺。结果依据PSA、PV、PSA与PV及PSAD,患者被进一步分组。8点及12点的总的PCDR没有显著的差异,在PV≥45mL、PSA≥10ng/mL且PV≥45mL及0.15ng/(mL·cm3)≤PSAD≤0.25ng/(mL·cm3)组中,12点的PCDR明显高于8点。结论 8点及12点前列腺穿刺总的PCDR没有显著区别(P0.05),但在PV较大同时PSA较高或者PSAD处于中等大小时(0.15~0.25)ng/(mL·cm3),12点的PCDR明显高于8点(P均0.05)。     

Significance of lateral biopsy specimens during transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies in Japanese men

OBJECTIVES: Lateral biopsies are thought to have a better cancer detection rate compared with standard sextant biopsies. This study aimed to determine whether lateral peripheral zone biopsies in Japanese men who underwent transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies provided a significantly higher cancer detection rate than sextant biopsies. METHODS: Between 1999 and 2004, data were collected from 461 men who underwent prostate biopsy and had enough data regarding the performance of lateral biopsies for statistical analysis. There were two categories in this study: (i) patients who underwent sextant prostate biopsies; and (ii) patients who underwent sextant biopsies plus lateral biopsies. RESULTS: Prostate cancer was detected in 141 (30.6%) of 461 patients. It was detected in 24 (22.2%) of 108 patients who underwent sextant biopsies and 117 (33.1%) of 353 patients who underwent sextant plus lateral biopsies. Lateral biopsies were not associated with a statistically higher rate of positive biopsy findings; however, we found a significantly higher ratio of patients with positive findings in those with prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels 10 ng/mL (one of 71, 1.4%) among those who had positive cores only in lateral biopsy samples (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Lateral biopsies did not show a significantly higher detection ratio of prostate cancer compared to sextant biopsies. However, lateral biopsies were more effective than sextant biopsies in patients with lower PSA levels. Our findings might be useful for the establishment of biopsy strategies to detect prostate cancer, especially in patients with lower PSA levels.     

Clinical, biochemical and pathological features of initial and repeat transrectal ultrasonography prostate biopsy positive patients

BACKGROUND: Using sextant biopsy, 16-41% of prostate cancers were diagnosed on repeat biopsy. The objective of the present study was to compare the differences in the clinical, biochemical and pathological features between patients with positive results on initial and repeat biopsies, with an aim to identify factors that can be used to improve the detection rate of transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) biopsy of the prostate. METHODS: Between February 2000 and April 2001, 222 patients with a mean age of 64 years (range 38-85) underwent TRUS-guided 10-core prostate biopsy for either abnormal prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels (>4 ng/mL) and/or abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE). Of this number, 165 patients underwent their first biopsy, whereas 45 and 12 patients had had one or two previous biopsies, respectively. RESULTS: Prostate cancer detection rates for the initial biopsy group (n = 165), second biopsy group (n = 45) and third biopsy group (n = 12) were 29.7, 23.0 and 41.7%, respectively. Six patients who had a negative first 10-core biopsy underwent a second 10-core biopsy and one patient (16%) was found to have cancer. Apart from total prostate volume, there were no significant statistical differences between the patient age, mean total PSA, PSA density, PSA-transition zone density, DRE and TRUS findings between the initial and repeat biopsy groups of subjects who had cancer. Those who had cancer detected only on repeat biopsies had larger prostate glands (P = 0.041). CONCLUSION: Patients who had cancer detected only on repeat biopsies had bigger prostate glands, supporting the hypothesis that TRUS sextant biopsy as a technique suffers the error of under-sampling in a bigger prostate.     

不同前列腺穿刺活检方案检出前列腺癌的比较

目的探讨理想的前列腺穿刺活检方案。方法临床表现怀疑前列腺癌患者214例，其中前列腺特异抗原〉4．0ng／ml 203例。均行13针前列腺穿刺活检术。年龄50～90岁，平均70岁；PSA水平0．8～112．3ng／ml，平均18．7ng／ml；前列腺体积12．3～182．5ml，平均61．3ml；直肠指诊阴性173例，阳性者41例。依穿刺结果，对比分析13针中6、8、10和13针穿刺阳性率。结果13针穿刺阳性率为36．0％（77／214）。在各种穿刺点组合中包含前列腺尖部、中部、底部、外侧中部、外侧底部的10针法能发现全部前列腺癌阳性病例的97．4％，与13针穿刺结果的差异无统计学意义（P=0．5）。结论对于初次前列腺活检的病例，包含尖部、中部、底部、外侧中部、外侧底部的10针法是较为合理的选择。     

Improved detection rate of prostate cancer using the 10-core biopsy strategy in Singapore

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate if changing the biopsy regime to 10 cores might improve the positive predictive value (PPV) of elevated prostate-specific antigen [PSA, elevated range, 4 to 20 ng per ml, normal range, < 4 ng per ml] for the diagnosis of prostate carcinoma. METHODS: From February 2000 to April 2001, 191 patients, mean age 64 years [range, 38 to 85 yr], underwent transrectal ultrasound [TRUS] for either elevated PSA [elevated range, 4 to 20 ng per ml] and/or abnormal digital rectal examination [DRE]. A 10-core TRUS-guided biopsy of the prostate was performed. This included the standard sextant biopsy and two additional cores for each far lateral zone. RESULTS: Using this technique, 47 out of 191 patients [24.6%] had prostate cancer. The PPV for PSA levels of 4.1 to 10.0 ng per ml and 10.1 to 20.0 ng per ml were 19.3% and 35.4%, respectively. The lateral cores contributed 21.3% of the cancer cases, which would have been missed if only sextant biopsies were performed. CONCLUSIONS: With the 10-core biopsy method, the PPV for prostate cancer for patients with a PSA in the range of 4 to 20 ng per ml was in the range of 25%. This is significantly different from previous reports. The reason for this may be due to the adoption of a better, more uniform and systematic biopsy strategy for patients with elevated PSA, or it may be a true reflection of the current population incidence. Hence, this biopsy strategy is highly recommended.     

Effect of peripheral biopsies in maximising early prostate cancer detection in 8-, 10- or 12-core biopsy regimens

OBJECTIVE: To assess the cancer detection rate per individual core biopsy in a 12-core protocol and develop an optimal biopsy regimen for detecting early prostate cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 445 new patients who had a 12-core transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)-guided prostatic biopsy over a 40-month period. The 12- core biopsy protocol included parasagittal sextant and six peripheral biopsies. The cancer detection rate per individual core was evaluated to give an optimal biopsy protocol. RESULTS: Prostate cancer was detected in 142 patients (31.9%). Parasagittal sextant biopsy would have failed to detect 40 (28.2%) of the cancers. Among the various possible biopsy protocols, the optimum 10-core biopsy strategy excluding the parasagittal mid-zone biopsies from the 12-core protocol achieved a cancer detection rate of 98.6%. CONCLUSION: The cancer detection rate increased from 71.8% for parasagittal sextant biopsies to 88.7% by adding peripheral basal biopsies (8-biopsy protocol); 98.6% of cancers in the series would have been detected with a 10-biopsy strategy omitting the parasagittal mid-zone biopsies. Thus we recommend a 10-core protocol incorporating six peripheral biopsies in patients with elevated age- specific prostate-specific antigen levels (2.6-10.0 ng/mL) for maximising cancer detection.     

Importance of peripheral biopsies in maximising the detection of early prostate cancer in repeat 12-core biopsy protocols

OBJECTIVE: To assess cancer-detection rates in repeat 12-core biopsy protocols, as extended multicore prostate biopsy protocols have become standard when investigating men with a raised prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, but repeat prostate biopsy protocols are still developing. PATIENTS AND METHODS: During a 4.5-year period, 241 of 590 patients with persistently high age-specific PSA levels of 2.6-10 ng/mL and an initial benign biopsy were invited for repeat transrectal ultrasonography-guided 12-core prostatic biopsy. The protocol for repeat biopsy was identical to the first biopsy, and included a periprostatic nerve block. The first six biopsies were obtained from the periphery of the gland directed more laterally at the base, mid-zone and apices. The remainder were parasagittal sextant biopsies. Pathological findings were analysed on an individual core basis. RESULTS: The mean age of the 241 men was 63.4 years; cancer was diagnosed in 40 (16.6%) on repeat biopsy. Men with cancer were older and had a higher median PSA level. The median Gleason score was 6, with a median of two cores positive for cancer. Maximum cancer detection rates were from peripheral apices (37.5%), basal biopsies had the lowest detection rates (23.8% and 16.3%), and parasagittal biopsies missed 35% of detected cancers. Patients with cancer also had significantly lower prostate volumes and higher PSA densities (both P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: A low cancer yield from both peripheral basal and parasagittal basal specimens on repeat biopsy indicates adequate sampling at initial biopsy. The maximum cancer yield in the peripheral mid-zones and apical zones suggests the necessity for concentrated sampling of these zones in repeat biopsy protocols.     

Additional Midline Biopsies of the Peripheral Zone Associated with the First Endorectal Standard Sextant Pattern Improves the Accuracy of Prostate Cancer Detection in Japanese Patients

Objectives

This study was designed to estimate the improved accuracy of prostate cancer (PCa) detection resulting from additional midline biopsies of the peripheral zone in first standard biopsy.

Patients and Methods

Patients were classified into 3 groups: 402 cases of sextant biopsies (1995–2002), 488 cases of 8-core biopsies with 2 additional midline biopsies (2003–2006), and 391 cases of 10-core biopsies with 4 additional midline biopsies (2007–2012). The positive rate of each number of biopsies and changes in positive rates associated with prostate specific antigen (PSA) ranges were estimated.

Results

The positive rate of core biopsy significantly improved with increasing numbers of core biopsies (30.1% for sextant, 43.4% for 8-core biopsies, and 53.1% for 10-core biopsies). The accuracy of biopsies for each PSA range also significantly improved (22.3% for sextant, 30.0% for 8-core biopsies, and 43.2% for 10-core biopsies in the PSA gray zone [4.01–10 ng/ml]; and 26.5% for sextant, 52.9% for 8-core biopsies, and 71.8% for 10-core biopsies in the intermediate PSA range [10.1–20 ng/ml]). In the 208 cases with positive results using the 10-core biopsy method, the distribution of Gleason scores did not differ between the sextant only group and the midline site only group.

Conclusions

Additional midline biopsy was associated with improved accuracy of positive core biopsies in Japanese patients with a PSA range of 4.01–20 ng/ml.© 2015 S. Karger AG, BaselKey Words: Additional midline, Diagnosis accuracy, Prostate cancer, First endorectal biopsy, Systematic biopsy     

Saturation technique does not improve cancer detection as an initial prostate biopsy strategy

PURPOSE: We reported on the results of a sequential cohort study comparing office based saturation prostate biopsy to traditional 10-core sampling as an initial biopsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on improved cancer detection of office based saturation prostate biopsy repeat biopsy, we adopted the technique as an initial biopsy strategy to improve cancer detection. Two surgeons performed 24-core saturation prostate biopsies in 139 patients undergoing initial biopsy under periprostatic local anesthesia. Indication for biopsy was an increased PSA of 2.5 ng/dl or greater in all patients. Results were compared to those of 87 patients who had previously undergone 10-core initial biopsies. RESULTS: Cancer was detected in 62 of 139 patients (44.6%) who underwent saturation biopsy and in 45 of 87 patients (51.7%) who underwent 10-core biopsy (p >0.9). Breakdown by PSA level failed to show benefit to the saturation technique for any degree PSA increase. Men with PSA 2.5 to 9.9 ng/dl were found to have cancer in 53 of 122 (43.4%) saturation biopsies and 26 of 58 (44.8%) 10-core biopsies. Complications included 3 cases of prostatitis in each group. Rectal bleeding was troublesome enough to require evaluation only in 3 men in the saturation group and 1 in the 10-core group. CONCLUSIONS: Although saturation prostate biopsy improves cancer detection in men with suspicion of cancer following a negative biopsy, it does not appear to offer benefit as an initial biopsy technique. These findings suggest that further efforts at extended biopsy strategies beyond 10 to 12 cores are not appropriate as an initial biopsy strategy.     

Population-based screening for prostate cancer by measuring total serum prostate-specific antigen in Iran

OBJECTIVE: To report the results from an Iranian large population-based randomized study of screening using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to detect prostate cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 3758 Iranian men older than 40 years were mass checked by PSA-based screening. Men with an abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE) and serum total PSA level of greater than 4 ng/mL, underwent transrectal ultrasonography (TRUS)-guided extended prostate biopsy. RESULTS: The PSA value (mean +/- standard deviation, SD) in all men without prostate cancer was 1.6 +/- 1.1 ng/mL and in those with cancer 18 +/- 44.8 ng/mL (P = 0.001). PSA values increased with age. In those aged 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and > or = 70 years, the mean +/- SD PSA values were 1.3 +/- 0.7, 1.4 +/- 0.8, 1.8 +/- 1 and 2.2 +/- 1.6 ng/mL, respectively. Among the screened men, 323 (8.6%) had a serum PSA concentration greater than 4 ng/mL. Of patients who underwent prostate biopsy (230, 71.2%), 129 (positive predictive value, 56.1%) had prostate cancer. Additionally, nine cancers were detected among 16 patients with PSA of less than 4 ng/mL who had a doubtful DRE finding. The overall cancer detection rate was 3.6%; 1.4% at 40-49, 1.6% at 50-59, 4.2% at 60-69 and 12.9% at >/=70 years. Conventional systematic sextant biopsies, which accounted for six of the 10 cores in our biopsy scheme, detected 98 (71%) of the cancers. CONCLUSIONS: The Iranian male population develops prostate cancer quite commonly if their serum PSA levels are greater than 4.0 ng/mL. In this study, 65.9% of the detected cancers were clinically significant. The conventional systematic sextant technique may be inappropriate for detection of all prostate cancers. The results need to be confirmed in other randomized trials.     

Transperineal extended biopsy improves the clinically significant prostate cancer detection rate: A comparative study of 6 and 12 biopsy cores

BACKGROUND: We evaluated the improvement in the rate of prostate cancer detection when using a 12-core transperineal biopsy protocol including transitional zone biopsy. METHODS: Between April 2003 and November 2004, 247 consecutive men underwent transperineal systemic 12-core biopsy of the prostate. Six cores were obtained at the peripheral zone, four at the transitional zone and two at the apex. We examined the cancer detection rate in each of the 12 cores, and also determined the improvement of cancer detection resulting from the extensive 12-core versus standard 6-core biopsy. RESULTS: Using the extensive 12-core biopsy, prostate cancer was detected in 98 cases (39.7%). Prostate-specific antigen (PSA), PSA density, the positive rate in digital rectal examination and transrectal ultrasound findings were significantly higher in the prostate cancer group than in the non-prostate cancer group, and prostate volume was larger in non-prostate cancer group. Every site showed almost the same positive rate, between 17.8 and 21.5%. There were 20 cases which were positive in the extended biopsy, but negative in the sextant. The detection improved significantly (20.4%). The improvement of cancer detection in extended biopsy was better in men with PSA levels of 10 ng/mL or less (28.9%), PSA density 0.3 or less (25.8%), negative digital rectal examination (23.3%), and negative transrectal ultrasound (21.6%). Of these twenty patients, no cases with insignificant tumor were detected in the six prostatectomy cases. In particular, three cases of the six were transitional-zone-only cancer. CONCLUSION: Transperineal extended 12-core biopsy including 4 transitional zone cores is a more useful procedure than transperineal 6-core biopsy. Routine transitional zone biopsy, that is different from transrectal biopsy, might be useful for detecting biologically significant cancer.     

The value of a single biopsy with 12 transperineal cores for detecting prostate cancer in patients with elevated prostate specific antigen

PURPOSE: Prostate cancer detection on standard sextant biopsy is considered inadequate. Various biopsy protocols have been introduced to improve cancer diagnosis. We report our experience with transperineal 12-core prostate biopsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a prospective study 650 patients underwent prostate specific antigen (PSA) measurement during a 15-month period, of whom 141 with PSA greater than 4 ng./ml. also underwent transperineal 12-core prostate biopsy using the fan technique. Median PSA was 8 ng./ml. (range 4.1 to 5,000). RESULTS: Prostate cancer was detected in 72 of the 141 patients (51%), including 44 of the 97 (45%) with PSA between 4.1 and 10 ng./ml. This incidence is higher than previously reported in the literature using other biopsy techniques. Disease was low grade Gleason 2 to 4 in 4 cases (5%), intermediate grade Gleason 5 to 6 in 26 (35%) and high grade Gleason 7 to 10 in the remaining 42 (60%). CONCLUSIONS: A high cancer detection rate is achieved by 12-core transperineal prostate biopsy. Most tumors represent clinically significant cancer. Further randomized trials are required to confirm these data.     

The potential role of prebiopsy magnetic resonance imaging combined with prostate-specific antigen density in the detection of prostate cancer

Aim:   Two-thirds of patients with a gray-zone prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level undergo unnecessary biopsy. Sensitivity is not yet sufficient to permit the use of modified PSA parameters or magnetic resonance (MR) imaging alone for prostate cancer screening. Thus, we evaluated the combination of MR imaging and PSA density (PSAD) for specificity and sensitivity.
Methods:   During the period April 2004 through March 2006, 185 patients with a PSA level of 4.0–10.0 ng/mL underwent MR imaging and transrectal ultrasonography-guided 8-core biopsy (systemic sextant biopsy of the peripheral zone plus two cores of transition zone). All MR images were interpreted prospectively by two radiologists. An image was considered positive for prostate cancer if any feature indicated a cancerous lesion. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to compare the usefulness of the PSA level, PSAD and PSA transitional zone density (PSATZ) for the detection of prostate cancer.
Results:   Of the 185 patients, 62 had prostate cancer. Sensitivity and specificity of the axial T2-weighted MR imaging findings for cancer detection were 79.0% and 59.4%, respectively. The area under the ROC curve was 0.590 for the PSA level, 0.718 for PSAD and 0.695 for PSATZ. MR imaging findings and PSAD were shown by multivariate analysis to be statistically significant independent predictors of prostate cancer ( P  < 0.001). With a PSAD cut-off value of 0.111, sensitivity was 96.8%, but specificity was 19.5%. Combining MR imaging findings with PSAD increased the specificity to 40% and retained 95% sensitivity.
Conclusion:   MR imaging findings combined with PSAD provide high sensitivity and improve the specificity for the early detection of prostate cancer.