Prostate Screening
How is prostate cancer diagnosed?
If urinary difficulties are present, or the results of a digital rectal exam or a PSA test are suspicious, your doctor will probably recommend an ultrasound and a biopsy to rule out cancer. The kind of biopsy used with the prostate is a core needle biopsy. It is a surgical procedure in which a sample of tissue is removed for examination under a microscope. Transrectal ultrasound is used to guide the insertion of a narrow needle through the wall of the rectum into the prostate gland. The needle removes a cylinder of tissue, usually about 1/2 inch long and 1/16 inch across, which is sent to a laboratory for microscopic analysis by a pathologist to see if cancer is present.
The biopsy procedure is usually done in the doctor's office and takes about 30 minutes. Though it may sound painful, it typically causes little discomfort because a special instrument called a biopsy gun inserts and removes the needle in a fraction of a second. Several biopsy samples are often taken from different areas of the prostate. Usually six samples are taken (upper, mid, and lower areas of the left and right sides) to get a representative sample of the gland to tell how much of the gland is affected by the cancer. But, in some cases, such as especially large glands, as many as 18 samples may be taken.
