ULTRASOUND-GUIDED BIOPSY OF THE PROSTATE - WHEN IS IT INDICATED

Prostate cancer may be suspected by digital rectal examination (DRE), serum marker abnormality, or transrectal ultrasound of the prostate (TRUS), but its presence must be confirmed by biopsy. A TRUS-guided biopsy results in greater accuracy of tissue sampling than does biopsy under digital guidance. A TRUS biopsy is indicated in patients in whom tactile biopsy has yielded negative results, as well as in patients with sonographically visible areas of suspicion. Six-sextant biopsy under TRUS guidnce is helpful in diagnosing cancers that are neither tactilely nor sonographically evident but whose presence is suspected by inordinate elevation of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA).