Summary
This study aimed to address the challenges in planning treatment for patients diagnosed with stage A prostate cancer after transurethral resection or open enucleation. The inability to accurately determine the presence or absence of significant residual disease can lead to both over-treatment and under-treatment. To assess the rate of residual cancer detection, the study analyzed three groups of stage A prostate cancer cases.
Group 1, consisting of 39 patients, underwent radical prostatectomy, with preoperative ultrasound imaging revealing residual cancer in only 24% of cases. In Group 2 (25 patients), transrectal ultrasound-guided systematic biopsies were performed, detecting cancer in 28% of cases. In Group 3 (47 patients), a modified systematic biopsy method that included anteriorly directed biopsies was applied, resulting in the detection of cancer in 47% of patients. Notably, additional anterior biopsies alone detected cancer in 11% of cases.
This study highlights the importance of refining the biopsy approach, particularly by incorporating anterior biopsies, to improve the detection of residual cancer in stage A prostate cancer patients, thus aiding in more accurate treatment planning.
