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