Daily Health Tips And Health Services » Cure Prostate Cancer

What is a prostate biopsy pathology report?

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:18:32 +0000

When your physician found your PSA of 6.3 ng/ml, you were referred to a urologist. The urologist performed a prostate biopsy, which is an outpatient office procedure in which 8-12 small needles are inserted into your prostate and tiny cores of tissue are removed from all areas of the gland.16,17 The prostate is divided into halves and needles are inserted into the top (base), middle and bottom (apex) of each half of the prostate. One to two biopsies will be obtained from each of these six areas, the medial and lateral (inside and outside). Each of the needle cores should be placed in a separate container and labeled by its location within the prostate.

All of the prostate cores should be sent to a pathologist who processes the material and examines the biopsy needle cores under a microscope. The pathologist’s findings will be described in a written report, called the prostate biopsy pathology report, which will be returned to your urologist. You should get a copy, read it and understand the report.

Why is a prostate biopsy pathology report important?

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:06:59 +0000

Your prostate biopsy pathology report is the key to understanding your particular case of prostate cancer. It is far more important than PSA, stage, bone scans or anything else. The information in the pathology report tells doctors how fast your cancer is growing, how extensive it is within the prostate, and the likelihood of capsule penetration (leakage of cancer cells outside the prostate). The pathology report is the cornerstone to tailoring treatment to the extent and aggressiveness of your prostate cancer, as well as to the calculation of your 10-year ICR.

What is cancer stage?

admin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 12:02:02 +0000

Clinical stage of cancer is determined only by physical examination of the prostate called a DRE (digital rectal examination). The purpose of staging is to locate the cancer, but this is often inaccurate. In fact, compared to the PSA and Gleason score, staging of prostate cancer is the most inaccurate measure of the extent of your cancer. The biggest area of inaccuracy concerns stages T1 and T2 disease, the stages that most men have. In reality, onethird or more of men with stage T1 or T2 prostate cancer actually have stage T3 prostate cancer, cancer outside the prostate, due to microscopic capsule penetration of cancer cells, which cannot be detected before treatment.

Do all men with a PSA above normal levels have prostate cancer?

admin — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:37 +0000

No. Another cause for PSA elevation is a prostate disease called benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) or enlarged prostate. BPH is the most common prostate disease in men and is present in half of men age 60 or older. BPH, not cancer, is the reason men have difficulty with urination such as a weak, slow urine stream because the urethra tube is squeezed by the enlarged prostate. Inflammation of the prostate, called prostatitis can also cause PSA elevation above normal.

Is PSA produced only by prostate cancer cells located in the prostate?

admin — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:59:22 +0000

No. A lot of people think this, but this is not correct. Prostate cancer can spread to other parts of the body; thus, prostate cancer cells any place in a man’s body produce PSA whether they are located in bone, lung, prostate, lymph nodes or any other area. A prostate cancer cell in a man’s left shoulder makes the same amount of PSA as one in his prostate. Thus, a PSA test checks for prostate cancer throughout a man’s body, but PSA gives no information about where the cancer cells are located.

Does the PSA level always measure the amount of prostate cancer?

admin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:57:39 +0000

Unfortunately, no. Some prostate cancers make very little PSA and are called low-PSA producing cancers. Often, these are men with high Gleason scores indicating more aggressive cancers. Low-PSA producing cancers can be advanced and fool doctors. We discover low-PSA producing cancers based on digital rectal examination through palpation of a cancer. Additionally, these cancers can be discovered by measuring PSA velocity. Even though a man’s PSA may be within normal limits, if the PSA is progressively rising, for example 0.5 ng/ml to 1.0 ng/ml to 1.8 ng/ml in less than a year, this rise should alert doctors to the possibility of prostate cancer.

Does the amount of PSA measure how much cancer he has?

admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:56:18 +0000

Usually, but not always. The amount of PSA is our best measurement for the amount of prostate cancer in a man. For example, a man with 100 prostate cancer cells would typically have a higher PSA than a man with ten cancer cells.

What is the average PSA level of men with prostate cancer?

admin — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:54:53 +0000

The average PSA level is 7.2 ng/ml, but there is a wide variation. There are men who were treated for prostate cancer with a PSA as high as 430 ng/ml and as low as 0.3 ng/ml.

How much PSA is produced by prostate cancer?

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 11:53:24 +0000

Prostate cancer cells leak a lot more PSA into the blood stream. On average, one prostate cancer cell will produce 10 times more PSA than one normal prostate cell. Consequently, a man with prostate cancer will usually, but not always, have a PSA level above 4.0 ng/ml or 2.5 ng/ml for men age 60 or younger.

How much PSA is produced by a normal prostate?

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 07:05:56 +0000

The amount of PSA is generally related to prostate size and the prostate typically enlarges as men age. Overall, a PSA level of up to 4.0 ng/ml is considered normal for men older than 60, and 2.5 ng/ml is the upper normal range for men age 60 or younger. These are rough guidelines because some younger men will have enlarged prostates and some older men will have normal-sized glands. Furthermore, prostate cancer can occur with PSA less than 2.5 ng/ml.