Imaging of Prostrate cancer
Imaging of Prostate
One of the issues with staging is the lack of a good way to capture images of the prostate.
Ultrasounds are not a very accurate way of visualizing the prostate.You can’t do an ultrasound and say ‘you have prostate cancer. Most urologists use transrectal ultrasound to direct the needle during biopsy.
Digital rectal exams (DRE) are also very subjective. During a DRE, your doctor uses a finger to feel for lumps or enlarged areas that could suggest prostate cancer. Some doctors may feel something subtle and some may not. These tests are subject to tremendous intraobserver variability and the assignment of clinical stage is fraught with difficulty.
It can be hard to determine which localized prostate cancers will recur. There are some small localized prostate cancers where some of the disease has already broken off and moved outside the body to the bones, and there are some large localized prostate cancers where some of the disease has not moved off to bone and will never move off to bone and cause harm.
The issue is that doctors don’t know how to predict which way the tumors will go.
What is really needed is a genetic screening test that can tell whether or not this tumor is likely to spread or stay put.
One of the issues with staging is the lack of a good way to capture images of the prostate.
Ultrasounds are not a very accurate way of visualizing the prostate.You can’t do an ultrasound and say ‘you have prostate cancer. Most urologists use transrectal ultrasound to direct the needle during biopsy.
Digital rectal exams (DRE) are also very subjective. During a DRE, your doctor uses a finger to feel for lumps or enlarged areas that could suggest prostate cancer. Some doctors may feel something subtle and some may not. These tests are subject to tremendous intraobserver variability and the assignment of clinical stage is fraught with difficulty.
It can be hard to determine which localized prostate cancers will recur. There are some small localized prostate cancers where some of the disease has already broken off and moved outside the body to the bones, and there are some large localized prostate cancers where some of the disease has not moved off to bone and will never move off to bone and cause harm.
The issue is that doctors don’t know how to predict which way the tumors will go.
What is really needed is a genetic screening test that can tell whether or not this tumor is likely to spread or stay put.
Labels: Imaging of Prostrate cancer, its impact
posted by G S Iyer at 9:36 PM
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