The reason for a larger number of cores is that it provides better
sampling to catch Pca. If 5 cores caught it, then that number sufficed.
If an RP is the treatment option, the pathology of the entire prostate
will provide the definitive information afterwards.

I am sorry to hear that your brother-in-law has to go through this.  Kaiser
is a big well established outfit, so he should get good care there.  Be sure
your sister-in-law is vigilant though.  It never hurts to have a well
informed advocate.

On the biopsy, the doctor made it a point to tell me that he was going to
take 10 samples, but the path report only mentioned 6.  I never found out
what happened to the other 4.  In any case, they found what they were
looking for, so I do not think it matters.  Hopefully this has been caught
soon enough to result in a cure.

Good luck to you and your in-laws.

Five cores is insufficien, although jhhtexas seems to feel five was
enough because carcinoma was detected. The Romans had a way of
describing this logical fallacy: "Post hoc ergo propter hoc," meaning
"after this, therefore because of this." Or maybe the end justifies the
means.

The medic had no idea when performing the procedure whether (s)he was
sampling the correct area or not. Once upon a time, the sextant
(six-core) biopsy was standard -- until it was discovered that six is
not enough, too many tumors were missed. That's when 12 cores became
the standard. No one can doubt that 12 is more likely to detect tumors
than five. Detecting the tumor with only five cores was pure luck, as
it is with 12. But with 12, the odds are better.

I recommend that Debbie's BIL also be encouraged to check out the
Prostate Cancer Research Institute at  
http://prostate-cancer.org/index.html

And to study the thorough, authoritative and objective _A Primer on
Prostate Cancer_, subtitled "The Empowered Patient's Guide," by Stephen
B. Strum, a medical oncologist who specializes in prostate cancer, and
Donna Pogliano, a PCa activist whose husband is a survivor.

He should study, learn, take charge.

Regards,

Steve J
__
"Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small,
large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good
sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming
might of the enemy.''
--Sir Winston L. S. Churchill

Maybe, just maybe, they reported to him that 5 cores showed cancer.  He may
have had 20 needles.