Third Step

The next step is to determine the extent and aggressiveness of the prostate cancer, if it exists, to guide you in your plan of action. This still requires a biopsy of the prostate but using a high resolution 3D map to guide targeted biopsy. The process starts with locating a urologist who has the modern equipment to map the prostate and precision guide the biopsy needles to suspected areas of cancer. There are a number of urologists in the US who use the equipment known as Artemis. It is a computer merging of a high definition, multi-parametric MRI-Scan of the prostate using specially calibrated MRI machines with real time ultrasound imaging. The result is an accurate 3D image of the prostate allowing the urologist to identify all areas of suspected cancer. With this as a guide, a series of biopsy needles can be precisely targeted using robotics to all suspected areas. However if a traditional random biopsy has been performed previously, the identification of suspected cancer regions can difficult due to the trauma inflicted by each previous random biopsy needle penetration. This is why jumping into a traditional random biopsy of 9-12 samples is both inadequate and can make future accurate diagnosis more difficult.

After the biopsy samples are analyzed by the laboratory, the aggressiveness and extent of the prostate cancer will be known. The report will provide a Gleason score of each biopsy site which places a measure of the aggressiveness of the each cancer site. It will help you make treatment decisions with far more confidence and and intelligence than could ever be gained from traditional random prostate biopsies.

1. Do I really have cancer
2. Can I watch and wait if the cancer is low grade
3. Has the cancer spread to or outside of the prostate capsule
4. How much of the prostate gland has cancer
5. Can I treat only few regions of the prostate, retain partial ejaculate and reduce chances of damaging nerves
6. Is my prostate still small enough to have many treatment options